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
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
The boy was branded as a tattletale for reporting what had happened to him and became the target of fierce bullying at school.
—Emma Brown, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2021
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
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
The boy was branded as a tattletale for reporting what had happened to him and became the target of fierce bullying at school.
—Emma Brown, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2021
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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After planting the seeds of a murder-for-hire plot, Kimball reported to the FBI that Ennis was planning to have witnesses killed, and shortly thereafter, was granted confidential informant status.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
28 Sep. 2025
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The animosity between the two boiled over when suspicions grew among the Joneses that Brandon was Marty Baker’s secret informant, after a Skeet associate spotted Brandon and Baker having lunch together in Mentone.—
Mitch Moxley,
Rolling Stone,
27 Sep. 2025
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
-
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
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Finally, initial jobless claims will be out Thursday morning, and the market will be looking for additional confirmation that the spike two weeks ago more of an anomaly than a canary in the coal mine.—
Kevin Stankiewicz,
CNBC,
21 Sep. 2025
-
The insurance crisis is the canary in the coal mine for the climate crisis, and the canary is dying.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
While there isn’t a statewide law that explicitly addresses rat running, the practice can be considered a violation of existing traffic laws requiring drivers to obey traffic signs and signals, Trooper Christopher Casey with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol told The Charlotte Observer.—
Tanasia Kenney,
Charlotte Observer,
24 Sep. 2025
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Surprisingly eloquent, Hawk compared finalists Richard Hatch and Kelly Wiglesworth to snakes and rats, respectively.—
Steve Helling,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
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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Speaking to reporters for the first time since the opener, Prince on Friday took responsibility for the late substitutions that contributed to two damaging delay of game penalties late in the Week 2 loss against the Patriots.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
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And in that present, Fugazi’s drummer, a scholar of caste, and a border reporter are no longer distant figures.—
Javier Garcia del Moral
September 26,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tattletale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattletale. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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