1
as in gossipers
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
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2
as in informants
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
the department telltale told the boss that his coworkers were taking extra long breaks
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Recent Examples of telltales
Torry’s wife, a speech therapist, noticed concerning telltales that led to a diagnosis 14 years ago, when Torry was only 40 years old.
—
Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 1 May 2026
Michael Van Runkle, Robb Report, 1 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for telltales
Noun
-
Jessica Simpson has gotten used to gossipers gossiping about her private life.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2019
Noun
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Greylord was a watershed moment in its use of eavesdropping devices and a mole to obtain evidence instead of relying on wrongdoers to become government informants.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
6 June 2026
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The charges do not stem from the general practice of paying informants but from the Justice Department's allegations that the SPLC made these payments without disclosing the practice to donors and by defrauding banks.—
Sarah N. Lynch,
CBS News,
3 June 2026
Noun
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The piece contends that while rumors circulated among political gossips and online, these remained unsubstantiated whispers that did not meet journalism’s evidentiary threshold for publication.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
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Local gossips claimed that Chin Ming Tai paid Moy Sing a bride price of $20,000, an astronomical sum for the time.—
Charlotte Brooks,
Big Think,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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One of State Security’s main goals, as well as a central source of its strength, is turning civilians into informers.—
Abraham Jiménez Enoa,
The Dial,
19 May 2026
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And so every regime invests in having student informers.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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That principle is why coal miners once brought canaries underground, as one emergency medicine doctor explained in a recent court declaration.—
Lisa Song,
ProPublica,
7 May 2026
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These living materials could also serve as canaries in the coal mine for water safety, glowing brighter or dimming in the presence of specific toxins.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Telltales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/telltales. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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