told off

Definition of told offnext
past tense of tell off

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for told off
Verb
  • When the singing was done Ma Binney brought me back to her tent and cut up a tomato, put it between two slices of bread, and served it to me on a china plate taken from a wooden chest next to her bed-roll.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Use saws to cut up larger branches before disposal, while flagging and avoiding anything dangerous.
    Timothy Dale, The Spruce, 15 Mar. 2026
Verb
  • The Burlesque star dressed down her jewels in a effortlessly cool black sweat set.
    Christina Perrier, InStyle, 10 Mar. 2026
  • This off-the-shoulder dress is a solid in-between option, since it can be dressed up with wedges or dressed down with flat sandals.
    Anna Popp, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 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
  • In Zambrano’s case, Gee scolded the government over how the detention unfolded.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
  • He is being groomed, playing, testing boundaries and even being scolded which are all part of normal social learning for young macaques.
    Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 17 Feb. 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
  • Noem’s dissmissal comes after she was berated by lawmakers on Capitol Hill over a series of disastrous blunders by her department, including the killings of two American citizens by border patrol agents in Minneapolis and apparent attempts by DHS to stifle investigations into the shootings.
    Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 6 Mar. 2026
  • They were berated with demeaning and misogynistic names.
    Lucia Cheng, Des Moines Register, 20 Feb. 2026
Verb
  • Authorities sent Iranians daily text messages warning that any protester would be severely punished for helping the enemy.
    Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026
  • Mathys Tel set up Richarlison for two excellent opportunities that were not converted in the first half, but the Brazil international punished some poor Liverpool defending in the dying stages to earn Spurs’ first point under Igor Tudor.
    Mark Carey, New York Times, 20 Mar. 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 22 Mar. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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