telling (on)

verb

Definition of telling (on)next
present participle of tell (on)
1
as in affecting
to act upon (a person or a person's feelings) so as to cause a response the pressure of final exams is beginning to tell on the students in the dorm

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in talking
to give information (as to the authorities) about another's improper or unlawful activities detectives convinced the perpetrators in custody to tell on their associates

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for telling (on)
  1. affecting
  2. talking
  3. influencing
  4. informing
  5. impressing
  6. impacting
  7. touching
  8. striking
Verb
  • That would help HBCUs tell their stories, train media professionals and gain a voice in decisions affecting their future.
    — Lamell J. McMorris, New York Daily News, 8 Nov. 2026
  • In any case, the characters’ specific backgrounds matter less when the play reveals itself to be a metaphor for military conflict, especially the fallout and collateral damage affecting those who are not the strategists and decision makers.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of affecting
Verb
  • Democrats are talking more cautiously now, and the party is rooting them on from DC.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 6 Nov. 2026
  • Her intentions were made clear in exchanges on social media with Bowden, who harshly criticized Honeycutt for crossing party lines, particularly for talking with Ocasio-Cortez.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of talking
Verb
  • Some observers blamed the exchanges for influencing voter behavior, while others accused them of stoking conspiracies.
    — Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 2 Nov. 2026
  • That’s why CMOs need to distinguish between attracting attention and influencing decisions.
    — Sarah Tourville, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of influencing
Verb
  • According to the complaint, the company used high-pressure sales practices to get consumers to signing up for personal loans which actually transferred their title to Home Savers 911 without informing them.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 10 Nov. 2026
  • The hospital violated its own policy by not informing Conor’s parents that he had been transferred, the CMS report found.
    — Alana Semuels, Time, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of informing
Verb
  • The queen of Halloween routines delivers again, impressing the judges thoroughly.
    — Katie Campione, Deadline, 27 Oct. 2026
  • After stepping into a bigger role with most of the Heat’s rotation regulars out and impressing in Saturday night’s preseason loss to the Timberwolves, Conwell again made some positive plays on Wednesday.
    — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of impressing
Verb
  • The grant comes at a crucial time for nonprofits facing fewer and more restrictive federal funding available impacting operations, according to both leaders.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Whatever negative feelings that persist between your daughter and her ex are clearly impacting your granddaughter.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Denver Post, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of impacting
Verb
  • Because Huang is the public face of Nvidia and directs its engineering strategy, any foreign intelligence contact touching his inner circle is certain to draw scrutiny from US defense officials.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Nov. 2026
  • The answer was body contact, which helps reveal which couple is real, so the team settled on choreography with plenty of touching.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of touching
Verb
  • Houston has been a recurring scene of protests to Trump's immigration crackdown in the wake of one ICE officer fatally shooting a Mexican homebuilder and another striking a man with a car.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The girlfriend of Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil was arrested Sunday for reportedly striking the singer.
    — Deborah Day, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of striking
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.

Browse Nearby Words

telling off
telling (on)
tell (of)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Telling (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/telling%20%28on%29. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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