as in informant
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
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Recent Examples of tattletale
Unfortunately, The Croat, being a complete and total tattletale, blabbed to The Dama that Negan had hesitated.
—
Charlie Mason, TVLine, 11 May 2025
Upsides And Downsides Are At Stake Generative AI can readily be shaped as a tattletale or snitch by an AI maker.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
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
Charlie Mason, TVLine, 11 May 2025
Upsides And Downsides Are At Stake Generative AI can readily be shaped as a tattletale or snitch by an AI maker.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattletale
Noun
-
Late last month, the Justice Department revealed that the cartel hired hacker who was able to infiltrate phone data and Mexico City's surveillance cameras to help track and kill FBI informants.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
16 July 2025
-
Then, in 1984, an informant revealed that a contract had been taken out on the life of a blond woman.—
Longreads,
Longreads,
8 July 2025
Noun
-
Over the past eight decades, the CCP has constructed a vast network of millions of informers and spies whose often unpaid work has been critical to the regime’s survival.—
Minxin Pei,
Foreign Affairs,
6 Feb. 2024
-
The Nazis set up secret squads in the camps to conduct beatings and killings of prisoners thought to be too friendly with U.S. officials or were accused of being informers.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
10 July 2025
Noun
-
In addition, the Trump Administration’s disbanding of the Federal Statistics Advisory Committee in March both eliminated one of the main engines for enhancing agency performance and, perhaps, in what should have been a concerning harbinger, abolished the canary in the data integrity coal mine.—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
2 Aug. 2025
-
Hogan was the canary in the coal mine; what came out was John Cena and a CGI eagle.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
24 July 2025
Noun
-
The dye was linked to thyroid cancer risks in rats as well as behavioral issues in children such as hyperactivity.—
Omer Awan,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
-
Fulton County was reported to have 318 rodents for every 1,000 homes, while Susquehanna County was found to have 301 mice and rats per 1,000 housing units.—
Soo Kim,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 July 2025
Noun
-
Wandering tattlers, the ruddy turnstone and a variety of other summer migrants will be found on our local beaches.—
Ernie Cowan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 June 2025
-
Tattling to the Bachelor doesn’t always go well for the tattler.—
Kristen Baldwin,
EW.com,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
These figures include single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes. Reach growth and development reporter Matthew Glowicki at mglowicki@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4000.—
Matthew Glowicki,
The Courier-Journal,
29 July 2025
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Regional politics reporter Erin Glynn can be reached at eglynn@enquirer.com, @ee_glynn on X or @eringlynn on Bluesky.—
Erin Glynn,
The Enquirer,
29 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tattletale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattletale. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
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