as in informer
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing
don't be such a tattletale and tell me about every little thing your sister does
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of tattletale
The two of them, as though after a party, would have stood at the sink cleaning dishes and wondering which among the attendees was the traitor, the tattletale.
—
Hazlitt, 26 July 2023
We’re basically guaranteed to see that thing where one person tells Zach that another person is there for the wrong reasons, but then the tattletale winds up consumed by their own vendetta and self-sabotages.
—Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2023
One errant tweet, one mistimed joke, one honest opinion overheard by an oversensitive busybody with the shrunken soul of a schoolyard tattletale, and a person’s job can be lost and his reputation destroyed.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
Deciding to become a whistleblower requires some hefty thinking, trying to balance a personal sense of ethical codes versus the potential for being known as an informer or tattletale.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 23 June 2021
The odds are that once self-driving cars become prevalent, the general public will wise up that self-driving cars have this intrinsic capability of being a tattletale.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 12 June 2021
The boy was branded as a tattletale for reporting what had happened to him and became the target of fierce bullying at school.
—Emma Brown, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2021
Kaila White, 29, also of Phoenix, was a good student and a tattletale while growing up.
—Michelle Rogers, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2020
Was this really all in my head? *** Some families might demonize liars, or tattletales, or people who fall down on some other moral imperative.
—Alyson Pomerantz, Longreads, 3 Sep. 2019
Hazlitt, 26 July 2023
We’re basically guaranteed to see that thing where one person tells Zach that another person is there for the wrong reasons, but then the tattletale winds up consumed by their own vendetta and self-sabotages.
—Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2023
One errant tweet, one mistimed joke, one honest opinion overheard by an oversensitive busybody with the shrunken soul of a schoolyard tattletale, and a person’s job can be lost and his reputation destroyed.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
Deciding to become a whistleblower requires some hefty thinking, trying to balance a personal sense of ethical codes versus the potential for being known as an informer or tattletale.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 23 June 2021
The odds are that once self-driving cars become prevalent, the general public will wise up that self-driving cars have this intrinsic capability of being a tattletale.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 12 June 2021
The boy was branded as a tattletale for reporting what had happened to him and became the target of fierce bullying at school.
—Emma Brown, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2021
Kaila White, 29, also of Phoenix, was a good student and a tattletale while growing up.
—Michelle Rogers, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2020
Was this really all in my head? *** Some families might demonize liars, or tattletales, or people who fall down on some other moral imperative.
—Alyson Pomerantz, Longreads, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattletale
Noun
-
The Ukrainian soldiers began to see Russian civilians as a hindrance — or worse, as potential informers who could give away their positions.—
Ekaterina Bodyagina Nanna Heitmann,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2025
-
The arrests were part of wide-ranging Establishment attacks on the new generation of pop stars in Britain at the time, done through connivance with informers and a hostile conservative media.—
Bill Wyman,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The witness was in fact facing 30 years in another murder case and went on record as an informant for police to take years off.—
J.M. Banks,
Kansas City Star,
25 Feb. 2025
-
Both the for-profit and nonprofit businesses were founded by Edward Clancy, a businessman and former political consultant who once worked as an FBI informant.—
Jeff McDonald,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Miami-Dade is the canary in the Florida coal mine for Democrats, where Republican strength signals much wider problems.—
Douglas Hanks,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2025
-
This almost never happened with the canaries, who removed the husk with extraordinary diligence and skill.—
Maja Mielke,
JSTOR Daily,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
There’s something a bit slimy and a bit dirty about a kind of rat’s tail.—
Brian Davids,
The Hollywood Reporter,
21 Feb. 2025
-
Four black rats were confirmed to have H5N1 avian flu in late January in Riverside County, California, where two recent poultry outbreaks were reported, the agency said.—
Sara Moniuszko,
CBS News,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Tattling to the Bachelor doesn’t always go well for the tattler.—
Kristen Baldwin,
EW.com,
25 Feb. 2025
-
Mortimer Zuckerman, the owner, hired him to replace a British editor who had turned it from a brash, tough-guy paper into a tattler of celebrity gossip and supermarket tabloid stunts.—
Robert D. McFadden,
BostonGlobe.com,
5 Aug. 2020
Articles Related to tattletale
Cite this Entry
“Tattletale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattletale. Accessed 6 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share