tell off

verb

told off; telling off; tells off

transitive verb

1

: reprimand, excoriate

told him off for his arrogance

2

: to number and set apart

especially : to assign to a special duty

told off a detail and put them to opening a trench

—J. F. Dobie

Examples of tell off in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Stephen King made a surprise return to X on Feb. 20 to tell off President Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of which owns the social media platform. —Zack Sharf, Variety, 21 Feb. 2025

Deliverance is a game about being told off for sleeping in other people's beds. —David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Feb. 2025

The West Coast rapper took to TikTok to share a 50 Cent meme where the Queens rapper was confused about being told off by Floyd Mayweather. —Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019

Two small feral-looking kids, ragged, both looked about seven years old, had been told off several times for knocking some of these flimsy chairs to one side as if to let the horse out. —Ali Smith, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025

The text overlay reads: POV you're being told off at 24 and 27. —Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025

The Panathinaikos substitutes and coaches, arms locked on the touchline, were told off for encroaching onto the pitch. —Nick Miller, The Athletic, 16 Aug. 2024

Despite being told off, the baubles remained too exciting. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024

Is Bissouma forgiven? Ange Postecoglou said on Friday that Yves Bissouma’s response to his suspension for his laughing gas misdemeanour had been like a punished child, whose behaviour is perfect for the two days after being told off. —Jack Pitt-Brooke, The Athletic, 24 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1727, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for tell off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

tell off

verb

: scold entry 2 sense 2, reprimand

told him off for spreading rumors