told off

past tense of tell off

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for told off
Verb
  • One of the women was cut up and wearing a bathing suit while Kovalcik was shirtless.
    Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Sporting Kansas City joined the vanquished Galaxy and Real Salt Lake on Saturday as LAFC cut up the last-place team in the Western Conference, 4-0.
    Josh Gross, Daily News, 26 July 2026
Verb
  • The versatile shirt can be dressed up for work with a skirt or slacks and dressed down on the weekends with lightweight pants or a denim jacket.
    Jamie Weissman, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Aug. 2026
  • These rich-looking bottoms can be dressed up with heels and a sexy top or dressed down with a sweater or tee and loafers.
    Jordan Julian, InStyle, 31 July 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
  • Mills was grabbed and scolded by defensive coordinator Aden Durde for his obvious no-no.
    PJ Green, Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The curious boys climbed onto the roof of their home for a better look, but climbed back down when scolded by their grandmother.
    Rina Nakano, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • One upbraided Tufty for this comment.
    Eric Adler June 4, Kansas City Star, 4 June 2026
  • 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
Verb
  • The next day, after Trump berated Republicans for allowing the measure to pass, the Senate rejected a nearly identical resolution, but the earlier rebuke was unmistakable.
    KORI SCHAKE, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The first rally in Seattle resulted in a national controversy when Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton allegedly berated two young Cunningham fans who attended, as the owner was later suspended for five home games and fined.
    Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Like Jacas, rookie Khalil Jacobs was punished a couple times for over-pursuing.
    Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 15 Aug. 2026
  • When training concludes with small sided games, losing teams are punished with more running to end the session while the winning team can relax and watch.
    Andy Jones, New York Times, 13 Aug. 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.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

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

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster