as in indicative
indicating something
I know you've been eating chocolate because of the telltale smudges on your face
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in gossiper
a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others
the media's professional telltales have basically decided that today's celebrities have no right to privacy
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
the department telltale told the boss that his coworkers were taking extra long breaks
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of telltale
Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2026
Stay vigilant by monitoring the sky for ominous signs and listening for the telltale sound of thunder.
—Bay Area Weather Report, Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2026
Clements said the mistaken identification may have happened because the creature decomposed and lost its telltale shell before it was fossilized, complicating identification.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
Stay vigilant by monitoring the sky for ominous signs and listening for the telltale sound of thunder.
—Southern California Weather Report, Oc Register, 9 Apr. 2026
The telltale sign of measles is a red rash that starts on the face and spreads downward.
—Brady Halbleib, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
This feeding process was considered the telltale sign.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 5 Apr. 2026
Mucus oozed out of the coral stems, a telltale response to trauma.
—Jeffrey Marlow, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
With its telltale cone shape, the northernmost of Sicily's Aeolian Islands is home to a volcano that puffs on a near-constant basis.
—Elizabeth Heath, Travel + Leisure, 31 Mar. 2026
Robert Lea, Space.com, 30 Nov. 2025
That was a big telltale for the song.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2025
Check for telltale thinning at the crown and temples; broken, frizzy bits at ear and chin level; as well as shorter strands at the nape of the neck that look shredded or wispy.
—Philipp Wehsack, Vogue, 30 Jan. 2025
The only telltale is the small 350e badge on the back.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2024
Tents selling fireworks all over the county are opening and the telltale pops, booms and bangs can be heard far and wide leading up to Independence Day.
—Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 22 June 2024
The initial telltale symptom of the plague is an extremely swollen lymph node, according to Adalja.
—Melissa Rudy, Fox News, 16 Feb. 2024
Photo: Courtesy of Neon Spectators at the crash scene in 1957 reported hearing the telltale hiss of a tire blowing out.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 Jan. 2024
The thief slowly turns the dial, listening for the telltale clicks or resistance that might hint at the inner workings of the safe's gears and reveal its combination.
—Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 21 June 2020
Adjective
To trace the solar events that caused these auroras, Miyahara and her colleagues looked for spikes of telltale atomic variations trapped in 13th-century tree rings, using Medieval literature to guide their search.
—Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2026
Stay vigilant by monitoring the sky for ominous signs and listening for the telltale sound of thunder.
—Bay Area Weather Report, Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2026
Clements said the mistaken identification may have happened because the creature decomposed and lost its telltale shell before it was fossilized, complicating identification.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
Stay vigilant by monitoring the sky for ominous signs and listening for the telltale sound of thunder.
—Southern California Weather Report, Oc Register, 9 Apr. 2026
The telltale sign of measles is a red rash that starts on the face and spreads downward.
—Brady Halbleib, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
This feeding process was considered the telltale sign.
—Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 5 Apr. 2026
Mucus oozed out of the coral stems, a telltale response to trauma.
—Jeffrey Marlow, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2026
With its telltale cone shape, the northernmost of Sicily's Aeolian Islands is home to a volcano that puffs on a near-constant basis.
—Elizabeth Heath, Travel + Leisure, 31 Mar. 2026
Noun
However, when outflows from young stars strike surrounding molecular clouds, shockwaves are created that heat matter and cause molecular hydrogen to emit telltale emissions.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 30 Nov. 2025
That was a big telltale for the song.
—Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 19 Sep. 2025
Check for telltale thinning at the crown and temples; broken, frizzy bits at ear and chin level; as well as shorter strands at the nape of the neck that look shredded or wispy.
—Philipp Wehsack, Vogue, 30 Jan. 2025
The only telltale is the small 350e badge on the back.
—Nina Turner, Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2024
Tents selling fireworks all over the county are opening and the telltale pops, booms and bangs can be heard far and wide leading up to Independence Day.
—Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 22 June 2024
The initial telltale symptom of the plague is an extremely swollen lymph node, according to Adalja.
—Melissa Rudy, Fox News, 16 Feb. 2024
Photo: Courtesy of Neon Spectators at the crash scene in 1957 reported hearing the telltale hiss of a tire blowing out.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 Jan. 2024
The thief slowly turns the dial, listening for the telltale clicks or resistance that might hint at the inner workings of the safe's gears and reveal its combination.
—Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 21 June 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for telltale
Adjective
-
Any prices or levels shown are either historical or purely indicative.—
Katie Stockton,
CNBC,
13 Apr. 2026
-
This tongue-in-cheek intro is indicative of the longtime comedian’s bone-dry brand of humor.—
Rachel Brodsky,
Rolling Stone,
12 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Celebrity gossiper Rob Shuter reported that the two recently let go of a number of their staff.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Her staff figured out how to get rid of the gossiper.—
Ronda Racha Penrice,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
For months, the couple worked with the FBI as informants, with Katas even staging a raid by arranging a meeting with Bateman under the guise of filming.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
11 Apr. 2026
-
The suspect police were looking for, based on a tip from a confidential informant, was living in a different apartment, and was wearing a police tracking device while awaiting trial for a recent arrest.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
6 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Made of reflective material, this leash assures the safety of both you and your pet when the sun goes down.—
Christina Shepherd McGuire,
PEOPLE,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Kovács, who is more reflective in person than his bulldog persona online, told me that Hungary’s election system is secure.—
Isaac Stanley-Becker,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Their show is a high-energy mix of friendly interviews with tech titans, industry gossip, and celebrations of funding rounds and other successes that involve banging a giant gong.—
Shannon Bond,
NPR,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Mitchell Fink, whose career as a celebrity gossip columnist and entertainment journalist included stints ranging from People magazine to the New York Daily News to the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, died Tuesday at 82 in West Palm Beach, Florida.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
-
The whole family is deeply involved in the revolutionary movement: the oldest son disappears into Siberia, never to be seen or heard of again, while the youngest, eighteen, is jailed together with his father, and executed after his cell is exposed by an informer.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
These include helium circulators, turbines, steam generators, pumps, and instrumentation and controls for the reactor’s power and heat generation.—
Ameya Paleja,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Constitutional concerns helped tank a bill Tuesday in the South Dakota House of Representatives that aimed to ban payments to petition circulators in ballot measure campaigns.—
John Hult,
States Newsroom,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
If the canary wouldn’t sing, if the milkman was late, if the Pekingese had fleas, if an old coot in a starched collar had a heart attack on the way to church, that was the smog.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
-
The proverbial canaries in coal mines will then cause a recession.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
1 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Telltale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/telltale. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
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