told off

verb

past tense of tell off
as in cut up

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for told off
  1. cut up
  2. dressed down
  3. ragged
  4. chewed out
  5. scolded
  6. upbraided
  7. berated
  8. punished
Verb
  • Californios’ reign began to vanish even before the discovery of gold, when droughts and floods wiped out their easygoing livelihoods, and their lands were cut up, sold off, and their land grants swept aside by the new state.
    — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The board's original proposal called for cutting up to 18 English learner teachers across the district.
    — Beret Leone, CBS News, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of cut up
Verb
  • Photos published by The Sun showed the couple dressed down, with Meghan in a black sweater, dark pants, white sneakers and sunglasses.
    — Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Spungen’s book houses over 80 cookie recipes, all glitzed, glammed, or perfectly dressed down.
    — The Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of dressed down
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
Definition of ragged
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
Definition of chewed out
Verb
  • Abe doesn’t like that Erin scolded him at his party about spilling his drink and not helping with the kids, and Erin is frustrated that none of her children will listen to her.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2026
  • For example, just recently, Musk publicly scolded the CEO of Delta in a scorching post on X when the airline did not partner with Starlink to provide Wi-Fi on Delta flights.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of scolded
Verb
  • Aurora resident Ace Winters upbraided the council Monday for not pursuing a moratorium.
    — John Aguilar, Denver Post, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The council member then upbraided the SpaceX representative for the vagueness of some of her replies.
    — Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of upbraided
Verb
  • But after another report appeared later, Rubio — speaking Thursday before leaving Athens — berated journalists for asking about the allegations.
    — Matthew Lee, Chicago Tribune, 13 Oct. 2026
  • After getting berated by Shanahan on the sideline during the playoff loss in Seattle last January, Green has played at a high level this season.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of berated
Verb
  • Universities have too often punished controversial opinions while tolerating intimidation, obstruction, and exclusion.
    — Ilya Shapiro, Washington Post, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Further south, Broward severely punished the party-switcher who fled the Democratic Party and hoped to survive as a repackaged Republican.
    — Steve Bousquet, Sun Sentinel, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of punished
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

told (of)
told off
told (on)
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Cite this Entry

“Told off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/told%20off. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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