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

That team played with a bag of Doritos on its shoulder, ticked off by every slight. —Troy Renck, Denver Post, 25 Apr. 2026

Oh my gosh, ticked off is not the appropriate word. —Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 25 Apr. 2026

Guests can now not only tick off both of the great apes with a two-stop trip, but also have plenty of other things to do in between—perhaps mountain biking and archery, or, for something more chilled out, basket weaving and coffee tasting. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Apr. 2026

Without hard freezes killing ticks off, populations are surviving in higher numbers and becoming active earlier each spring. —Allison Palmer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Apr. 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