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
-
To mulch leaves, use a lawn mower or leaf shredder to cut up your leaves into small pieces and then pile them up around your plants.—
Maia Pandey,
jsonline.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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Investigators allegedly recovered evidence from Louisma's car, including a pocketknife with blood stains on it, machetes, a rope, a roll of duct tape, pink HeyDude shoes, and a cut up pink shirt with duct tape wrapped around it, CBS2 Iowa reports.—
KC Baker,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Women stopped to bawl out the police, who accepted this dressing-down with quiet embarrassment.—
National Geographic,
National Geographic,
11 Aug. 2020
Verb
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The episode ends with Kyle’s mom chewing out Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his actions in the ongoing war.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
25 Sep. 2025
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About eight or nine hours into a punishing shoot, nerves were fraying, and Mike McGuirk was getting chewed out by a camera operator.—
Katie Kilkenny,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The players had looked ragged, insecure and vulnerable tactically.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
25 Aug. 2025
-
The incline left my legs burning and my breath ragged, and my pace slowed despite my best efforts.—
Sam Stone,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
12 Aug. 2025
Verb
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His post-match dressing down after the 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano on August 31 seems to have paid off.—
Pol Ballús,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
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For the first stretch of Erupcja, Charli almost dissolves into the screen, not like an outsize personality who’s dressing down for a part, but like someone who isn’t able to repurpose her considerable ability to hold our attention — or to give us any sense of what’s on her character’s mind.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The incident was caught on camera Thursday at an immigration court in New York City – fueling outrage as more families across the US get punished after showing up to their immigration court hearings.—
Gloria Pazmino,
CNN Money,
26 Sep. 2025
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When an authority is actively suppressing or punishing speech itself, the space open to debate gets much smaller very quickly.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Twin Cities,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Miss Sammie flashed the scolding look Jean had known since childhood, though playfully now.—
David Wright Faladé,
New Yorker,
28 Sep. 2025
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Chun also scolded attorneys for Amazon in July for withholding thousands of documents from the FTC and abusing a legal privilege to shield them from scrutiny.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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And Travis Kelce and Reid were jawing at each other again.—
The Athletic Staff,
New York Times,
22 Sep. 2025
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Horn has never been shy about jawing at his offensive teammates in practice.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
18 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tell off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tell%20off. Accessed 30 Sep. 2025.
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