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

What’s the next rumor, that City Hall will do something that doesn’t tick off the public? —Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Feb. 2026

As the final seconds ticked off the clock Friday night at Ellis Davis Field House, Cedar Hill’s Lyntoria Daniel flung the basketball high in the air and was mobbed by her teammates. —Greg Riddle, Dallas Morning News, 27 Feb. 2026

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno’s recent comments have the Major League Baseball Players’ Association ticked off. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 23 Feb. 2026

Price kicked the ball back out to Barnett who fired up another 3 that missed as the final seconds ticked off. —Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 29 Jan. 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