as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
don't be such a tattletale and tell me about every little thing your sister does
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Recent Examples of tattletale
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
Unfortunately, The Croat, being a complete and total tattletale, blabbed to The Dama that Negan had hesitated.
—Charlie Mason, TVLine, 11 May 2025
Upsides And Downsides Are At Stake Generative AI can readily be shaped as a tattletale or snitch by an AI maker.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
The two of them, as though after a party, would have stood at the sink cleaning dishes and wondering which among the attendees was the traitor, the tattletale.
—Hazlitt, 26 July 2023
We’re basically guaranteed to see that thing where one person tells Zach that another person is there for the wrong reasons, but then the tattletale winds up consumed by their own vendetta and self-sabotages.
—Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2023
One errant tweet, one mistimed joke, one honest opinion overheard by an oversensitive busybody with the shrunken soul of a schoolyard tattletale, and a person’s job can be lost and his reputation destroyed.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
Unfortunately, The Croat, being a complete and total tattletale, blabbed to The Dama that Negan had hesitated.
—Charlie Mason, TVLine, 11 May 2025
Upsides And Downsides Are At Stake Generative AI can readily be shaped as a tattletale or snitch by an AI maker.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
The two of them, as though after a party, would have stood at the sink cleaning dishes and wondering which among the attendees was the traitor, the tattletale.
—Hazlitt, 26 July 2023
We’re basically guaranteed to see that thing where one person tells Zach that another person is there for the wrong reasons, but then the tattletale winds up consumed by their own vendetta and self-sabotages.
—Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2023
One errant tweet, one mistimed joke, one honest opinion overheard by an oversensitive busybody with the shrunken soul of a schoolyard tattletale, and a person’s job can be lost and his reputation destroyed.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattletale
Noun
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Leon asked during one meeting, after selling a baggie containing a white, powdery substance, if the informant had tried fentanyl powder before, according to court documents.—
Perry Vandell,
AZCentral.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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He was accused of sending Snapchat messages to his brother and a friend who turned out to be a longtime government informant.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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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
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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
-
There are no canaries on the Canary Islands.—
Richard Lederer,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 Jan. 2026
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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
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
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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
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Tattling to the Bachelor doesn’t always go well for the tattler.—
Kristen Baldwin,
EW.com,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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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
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Indianapolis weather radar Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter.—
Karl Schneider,
IndyStar,
28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tattletale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattletale. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.
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