told off

Definition of told offnext
past tense of tell off

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for told off
Verb
  • 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
  • Such a potato is cut up into sections, each having a sprout or two.
    David Beaulieu, The Spruce, 9 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Though the shoes are certainly office-friendly, they could easily be dressed down with a pair of jeans and a flowy blouse for more casual occasions.
    Isabel Bekele, InStyle, 9 Feb. 2026
  • Rih dressed down the whimsy, in a white tee, jeans, and a fuzzyz white scarf.
    Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 28 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • 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
  • Being chewed out was nothing new, part of life as a football player.
    Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • About eight or nine hours into a punishing shoot, nerves were fraying, and Mike McGuirk was getting chewed out by a camera operator.
    Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • As the Sentinel’s Cristobal Reyes has reported, federal judges based in Orlando have scolded prosecutors multiple times in recent weeks for detaining people who should have been set free, with one judge memorably comparing the current actions of ICE to those of a third-world country.
    Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Feb. 2026
  • No fan should be told how to follow their team, nor be scolded for feeling conflicted, especially as Spurs supporters have been put in this unenviable bind by the failings of their club — rather than the other way around.
    Dan Kilpatrick, New York Times, 30 Jan. 2026
Verb
  • At a hearing two days after the government dropped its charges against Baraka, the judge upbraided Stephen Demanovich, a federal prosecutor who had been assigned the case.
    Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026
  • During cross-examination, he was upbraided for long answers that did not immediately answer the question he had been asked.
    Greg O'Keeffe, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Sylvia berated Lew all the way home to Weston.
    Allegra Goodman, Literary Hub, 11 Feb. 2026
  • McPhatter berated the man and threw him against a patrol car twice, and when the man antagonized McPhatter from the back seat of his police cruiser, the cop reached back and grabbed the glasses off his face, prosecutors allege.
    John Annese, New York Daily News, 10 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Ortiz was punished the following year with his removal from Welch’s leadership team.
    The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2026
  • But Einhorn said the stock was unfairly punished given the return of an old CEO, as well as an improving balance sheet.
    Sarah Min, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2026
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Told off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/told%20off. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.

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