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
-
At one point, a member of the Revolutionary Guard came over to cut up Khamenei’s breakfast meat.—
Robin Wright,
New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2026
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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
Verb
-
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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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
-
First, use a brush or rag to remove all loose soil particles from tools and pots.—
Megan Hughes,
Better Homes & Gardens,
18 Feb. 2026
-
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
Verb
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Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty Taking photos or videos of the location of strikes and sending them to the media is banned, and Iranian officials say people who do so will be punished, Bathei reports.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
4 Mar. 2026
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In Greek and Roman mythology, the Furies were goddesses of vengeance and retribution, called on to punish heinous crimes such as murder; now, the word is used more generally to mean fierce passion or rage.—
Harmeet Kaur,
CNN Money,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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At one point her mother, Ri Sol Ju, appears to gently scold her for some transgression as Kim watches with a broad smile.—
Jen Kwon,
CBS News,
6 Mar. 2026
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But Saxon said Ye kept him constantly on edge, demanding photo updates of construction work, scolding him for wearing blue instead of the all-black worker uniform Ye preferred, and suddenly adding 24/7 security duties to his workload.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Herro then was called for a double-technical foul along with Kevin Durant, as the two jawed after a timeout.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
28 Feb. 2026
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Baker-Mazara dribbled into consecutive 3-point shots, jawing with the UCLA student section while running back on defense.—
Aaron Heisen,
Oc Register,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Assistive listening studies report that bypassing room acoustics and delivering audio directly can improve signal‑to‑noise ratios by 15–20 dB, making announcements comprehensible and lectures clearer [8].—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
26 Feb. 2026
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That includes lecturing, building curriculum, pursuing research and speaking about university policy.—
Cate Charron,
IndyStar,
18 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tell off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tell%20off. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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