tattletale

noun

ˈta-tᵊl-ˌtāl How to pronounce tattletale (audio)
Definition of tattletalenext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tattletale That kid has tattletale energy. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 7 Apr. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattletale
  1. informant
  2. informer
  3. canary
  4. rat
  5. tattler
  6. reporter
Noun
  • In the morning, Nora stops by with information about confidential informants in the Candlelight Lounge case.
    — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 27 July 2026
  • In other words, the governor of the strategically important border state of Baja California was just caught on tape offering to become an FBI informant.
    — Kevin Sieff, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026
Definition of informant
Noun
  • One of State Security’s main goals, as well as a central source of its strength, is turning civilians into informers.
    — Abraham Jiménez Enoa, The Dial, 19 May 2026
  • And so every regime invests in having student informers.
    — Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026
Definition of informer
Noun
  • Kevin Tubbs grew up in a comfortable suburb outside Omaha, Nebraska, in a canary-yellow ranch house filled with dogs.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
  • Carolina Jessamine This vine with sweet-scented, canary-yellow flowers in the spring is native to the southern United States.
    — Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 9 July 2026
Definition of canary
Noun
  • More than a month after a massive fire swept through the warehouse, Lineage is still working to remove more than 85 million pounds of weeks-old food, which has brought rancid odors, flies and rats to the surrounding area.
    — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
  • Getting into the habit of leaving dirty dishes in the sink provides pests such as German cockroaches, ants, mice, and rats with a constant food source.
    — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 27 July 2026
Definition of rat
Noun
  • 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
Definition of tattler
Noun
  • The shooter is among the dead, Twin Falls Police Chief Matthew Hicks told reporters at a news conference held Saturday night.
    — Carter Schroppe, The Washington Examiner, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Here’s a compilation of the latest reporting as of Friday night from The Athletic’s team of reporters as Monday’s trade deadline approaches.
    — Jayson Stark, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of reporter

Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Tattletale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattletale. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on tattletale

Nglish: Translation of tattletale for Spanish Speakers

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