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
People who come forward are called narcs, tattletales and snitches.
—
Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2026
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
Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattletale
Noun
-
The Islamic State member was plotting an attack in the United States and believed it would be carried out by the informant and Jalloh, court documents said.—
Aysha Bagchi,
USA Today,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Women were central — as planners, fighters, informants, protectors, logisticians, and spiritual anchors.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
-
The whole family is deeply involved in the revolutionary movement: the oldest son disappears into Siberia, never to be seen or heard of again, while the youngest, eighteen, is jailed together with his father, and executed after his cell is exposed by an informer.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
1 Mar. 2026
-
By crunching data from millions of monthly payroll records for workers in jobs with exposure to generative AI, the authors concluded that workers ages 22 to 25—the canaries—have seen about a 13 percent decline in employment since late 2022.—
Josh Tyrangiel,
The Atlantic,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
For at least two years in the late 1940s, the building, then owned by a predecessor bank of Credit Suisse, housed a key stop on the secret routes that allowed Nazi officials to escape justice and flee to South America, known as rat lines.—
Hugo Miller,
Bloomberg,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Tests on rats and sheep show injuries consistent with those seen in humans with Havana Syndrome.—
Mirella Brussani,
CBS News,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
Noun
-
Pretti’s parents learned of their son’s death when an Associated Press reporter called them.—
Ruby Cramer,
New Yorker,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Philippe Allain, a regional police commander, told reporters that investigators have received information the man had psychological problems.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
12 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tattletale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattletale. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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