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
-
In the photo, Hat Rack is seen nestled within the weblike Sculpture for Traveling (1918), a net of rubber shower caps cut up and glued together that Duchamp took on a trip to Buenos Aires.—
Howard Halle,
ARTnews.com,
10 Apr. 2026
-
The premiere episode will be cut up into 21 short segments, each about three minutes long, going live on Sunday morning on the video platform and remaining available for six weeks.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Trippier and Burn are organisers and not afraid to bawl out their team-mates.—
George Caulkin,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2026
-
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
-
Being chewed out was nothing new, part of life as a football player.—
Nick Kosmider,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Damp rags on the prep counters had no detectable sanitizer.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
20 Mar. 2026
-
Each leaves different clues like slime trails, ragged edges, or missing buds.—
Peg Aloi,
The Spruce,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Armed groups impose rules, enforce discipline and punish violations with violence.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Trump has talked about making Canada the 51st state and has applied punishing tariffs on certain key sectors.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
When the second player protested the contact, Nicholson scolded the player, according to one parent.—
Edward Lee,
Baltimore Sun,
9 Apr. 2026
-
What starts as a playful, casual parlor game suddenly turns incredibly dark, not just because of Emma’s confession but by Rachel’s sudden turn from loyal friend to judgmental scold.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Carolina tough guy Nic Deslauriers jawed at Zadorov on the bench and appeared to be asking for a date at a later time in the game.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
8 Apr. 2026
-
In the closing seconds of the first, Pierre-Luc Dubois rammed Travis Sanheim just in front of the Flyers bench, Zegras came flying in to defend him, and a scrum ensued that included Wilson and Travis Konecny pushing and shoving and jawing with one another.—
Kevin Kurz,
New York Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
With me, my wife lectures me more than my children.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The van’s speakers played a high-volume mashup of construction sounds, Jordan Peterson lectures, Marine Corps drills, and mumbling voices.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tell off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tell%20off. Accessed 12 Apr. 2026.
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