as in to rail (at or against)
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Recent Examples of tell off
Lombardi had voiced her concerns about the impact of the Blue Angels flying over Seattle in 2023, telling off the squadron in an expletive-laden tirade.
—
Janhvi Bhojwani, NBC news, 24 July 2025
Season three will include toxic men (pretends to be shocked!), Marciano’s story being questioned (clutching my pearls!), and Taylor telling off her mom (wait, actually, yes, please).
—Olivia Crandall, Vulture, 1 July 2025
Rivera’s sharp sense of style, hanging out and making plans, eating sticky rice and ketchup, telling off old boyfriends and listening to music.
—Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2025
Moo's hilarious response to being told off is a textbook example of this temperament.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
Maybe Simón was a malcontent who told off manager Clayton McCullough.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
Stephen King made a surprise return to X on Feb. 20 to tell off President Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of which owns the social media platform.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 21 Feb. 2025
Deliverance is a game about being told off for sleeping in other people's beds.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Feb. 2025
Janhvi Bhojwani, NBC news, 24 July 2025
Season three will include toxic men (pretends to be shocked!), Marciano’s story being questioned (clutching my pearls!), and Taylor telling off her mom (wait, actually, yes, please).
—Olivia Crandall, Vulture, 1 July 2025
Rivera’s sharp sense of style, hanging out and making plans, eating sticky rice and ketchup, telling off old boyfriends and listening to music.
—Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2025
Moo's hilarious response to being told off is a textbook example of this temperament.
—Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
Maybe Simón was a malcontent who told off manager Clayton McCullough.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025
Stephen King made a surprise return to X on Feb. 20 to tell off President Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of which owns the social media platform.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 21 Feb. 2025
Deliverance is a game about being told off for sleeping in other people's beds.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tell off
Verb
-
Her voice is intimate and resonant, whether cut up into indistinct background flurries or pushed to the front of the mix.—
Alex Robert Ross,
Pitchfork,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Such a potato is cut up into sections, each having a sprout or two.—
David Beaulieu,
The Spruce,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Women stopped to bawl out the police, who accepted this dressing-down with quiet embarrassment.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
11 Aug. 2020
Verb
-
Instead of the standard chewing out, the senior played a clip of his freshman defensive back counterpart recognizing a screen, shedding a block and securing the first solo tackle of his career against No. 5 Georgia last week.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
10 Nov. 2025
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Being chewed out was nothing new, part of life as a football player.—
Nick Kosmider,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
On that night in March, to the surprise of nobody, Arsenal ran their mid-table Premier League hosts ragged, beating them 5-1, with Henry and Freddie Ljungberg scoring twice, and Kolo Toure netting the other.—
Dan Sheldon,
New York Times,
11 Jan. 2026
-
In November, Green spoke to PEOPLE at the 2025 CMA Awards in Nashville, and shared a similar story about his friends ragging on him for being crowned Sexiest Country Star Alive.—
Rachel DeSantis,
PEOPLE,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
During her six-year tenure, Porter often went viral for wielding a whiteboard to emphasize her points while dressing down corporate executives in congressional hearings.—
Lia Russell
February 19,
Sacbee.com,
19 Feb. 2026
-
The point of dressing down is to show solidarity with those fighting NF, which impacts 1 in every 2,500 people.—
Rashad Alexander,
Kansas City Star,
14 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
That staunch support takes on extra significance in a hyper-competitive country that often only rewards top winners and punishes those who fall short.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Lofgren said the purpose of the bill is to facilitate quality improvement in the health care system without punishing health care facilities.—
Clark Kauffman,
Iowa Capital Dispatch,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Porter was initially viewed as having a potential edge in the race, but her prospects dimmed after videos emerged in October of the UC Irvine law professor scolding a reporter and swearing at an aide.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
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He is being groomed, playing, testing boundaries and even being scolded which are all part of normal social learning for young macaques.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
17 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Minutes later, Wilson and Crinon were jawing at one another near the French net.—
Ryan Brennan,
Charlotte Observer,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Minutes later, Wilson and Crinon were jawing near France’s net.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tell off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tell%20off. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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