as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
as the office's resident tattler, she can be counted on to report any unauthorized use of the photocopiers
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Recent Examples of tattler
Wandering tattlers, the ruddy turnstone and a variety of other summer migrants will be found on our local beaches.
—
Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2025
Tattling to the Bachelor doesn’t always go well for the tattler.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 25 Feb. 2025
Mortimer Zuckerman, the owner, hired him to replace a British editor who had turned it from a brash, tough-guy paper into a tattler of celebrity gossip and supermarket tabloid stunts.
—Robert D. McFadden, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2020
Being a tattler or someone who is too focused on the drama rarely works out, largely because those dudes are more focused on screen time than the lead.
—Martha Sorren, refinery29.com, 20 June 2019
There are social repercussions for kids who develop a reputation as tattlers: they get left out.
—K. Lori Hanson Ph.d., miamiherald, 8 Mar. 2018
Dwight and Eugene remain at an ideological impasse, but Eugene is too busy waffling between his morality and his desire to stay alive to actually pick a side—and for reasons unknown, Dwight hasn’t found a way to simply ax the potential tattler.
—Laura Bradley, HWD, 3 Dec. 2017
Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2025
Tattling to the Bachelor doesn’t always go well for the tattler.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 25 Feb. 2025
Mortimer Zuckerman, the owner, hired him to replace a British editor who had turned it from a brash, tough-guy paper into a tattler of celebrity gossip and supermarket tabloid stunts.
—Robert D. McFadden, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2020
Being a tattler or someone who is too focused on the drama rarely works out, largely because those dudes are more focused on screen time than the lead.
—Martha Sorren, refinery29.com, 20 June 2019
There are social repercussions for kids who develop a reputation as tattlers: they get left out.
—K. Lori Hanson Ph.d., miamiherald, 8 Mar. 2018
Dwight and Eugene remain at an ideological impasse, but Eugene is too busy waffling between his morality and his desire to stay alive to actually pick a side—and for reasons unknown, Dwight hasn’t found a way to simply ax the potential tattler.
—Laura Bradley, HWD, 3 Dec. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattler
Noun
-
Hobart Police Detective Wendell Hite wrote that police dropped off a criminal informant outside the mall to buy drugs from Larkin in a black Lincoln in the parking lot.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Adrian Jimenez, 44, met Espinoza Martinez through his small construction business, but that witness has a felony record and – unbeknownst to the Martinez – has also been working as a police informant since the 1990s.—
Sara Machi,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Frizer and Skeres were fraudsters, and the sinister Poley was an informer, crucial to the exposure of the Babington Plot.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2025
-
Option 2: If one prisoner informs while the other stays silent, the informer will go free while the silent one receives the harshest sentence.—
Michael Ashley,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025
Noun
-
While Chicago is the canary in the coal mine, the legislative resistance to choice affects the entire state.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Against a backdrop of teak wood and bamboo, driftwood bedposts make the mosquito nets look like chic bed drapes, while canary-yellow day beds and blinds add a ray of sunshine to even the dreariest days.—
Chris Schalkx,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Years later, their youngest daughter, Hannah Burch – now 24 and a mother herself – shared a viral TikTok video reflecting on the unique ways she and her siblings were raised — from rules around being a tattletale to monthly family yardwork and chore expectations.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
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Unfortunately, The Croat, being a complete and total tattletale, blabbed to The Dama that Negan had hesitated.—
Charlie Mason,
TVLine,
11 May 2025
Noun
-
The only animals Cook’s crew saw apart from wild birds were rats and chickens, both eaten.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
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Testing the powder on rats fed a high-sugar diet, the team found that brushing with BSCT for just one minute a day was enough to restore the rats' oral microbiome, reduce inflammation, and kill the bacteria that causes periodontitis.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
While speaking to reporters later Wednesday, Powell was asked if the Fed had responded to the subpoenas.—
Dan Mangan,Eamon Javers,
CNBC,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Indianapolis weather radar Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tattler.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattler. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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