tick off

verb

ticked off; ticking off; ticks off

transitive verb

1

: to make angry or indignant

the cancellation really ticked me off

2

: reprimand, rebuke

his father ticked him off for his impudence

Synonyms of tick off

• admonish
• reprimand
• get after
• blame
• scold
• get on
• criticize

Examples of tick off in a Sentence

she royally ticked the babysitter off for letting the child play outside unsupervised

it really ticks me off when someone says something like that

Recent Examples on the Web

But ultimately, the perfect tree is less about ticking off a checklist and more of an instinct. — Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 29 Oct. 2026

In the meeting, May and agency staffers ticked off a number of problems with Citation’s wells that regulators had overlooked for years. — Nick Bowlin, ProPublica, 27 Oct. 2026

That same month, the Hilton Reum family ticked off another milestone when London and Phoenix skied for the first time at Yellowstone. — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2026

Markos, understandably ticked off (and somehow aware that Corey had told Matt that Mia was taken), takes out all his toxic masculine rage on Matt’s gorgeous face, carving him up and leaving him to deal with it. — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 21 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

tick entry 2

First Known Use

1915, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for tick off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff