as in to rail (at or against)
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Recent Examples of tell off
Lombardi had voiced her concerns about the impact of the Blue Angels flying over Seattle in 2023, telling off the squadron in an expletive-laden tirade.
—
Janhvi Bhojwani,
NBC news,
24 July 2025
Season three will include toxic men (pretends to be shocked!), Marciano’s story being questioned (clutching my pearls!), and Taylor telling off her mom (wait, actually, yes, please).
—
Olivia Crandall,
Vulture,
1 July 2025
Rivera’s sharp sense of style, hanging out and making plans, eating sticky rice and ketchup, telling off old boyfriends and listening to music.
—
Caroline Kubzansky,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
Moo's hilarious response to being told off is a textbook example of this temperament.
—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
Maybe Simón was a malcontent who told off manager Clayton McCullough.
—
Dan Freedman,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
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
Janhvi Bhojwani,
NBC news,
24 July 2025
Season three will include toxic men (pretends to be shocked!), Marciano’s story being questioned (clutching my pearls!), and Taylor telling off her mom (wait, actually, yes, please).
—
Olivia Crandall,
Vulture,
1 July 2025
Rivera’s sharp sense of style, hanging out and making plans, eating sticky rice and ketchup, telling off old boyfriends and listening to music.
—
Caroline Kubzansky,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
Moo's hilarious response to being told off is a textbook example of this temperament.
—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
Maybe Simón was a malcontent who told off manager Clayton McCullough.
—
Dan Freedman,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tell off
Verb
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Everything is cut up and put together through chance operations into what Cage called a Musicircus.
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During the matchup, Jeter dove into the stands in the top of the 12th inning to catch a foul ball, emerging from the crowd cut up and bruised.
Verb
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As my mother bawled out her lungs, the doctor and the nurses remained speechless, stunned not only by my disproportionate weight but also by my appearance: a Chinese Buddha whose eyes were unmoving, untrusting.
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Trippier and Burn are organisers and not afraid to bawl out their team-mates.
Verb
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It was widely reported that team president Masai Ujiri went into Casey’s office after Game 3 to chew out the coach for not preparing his team better to defend James’ memorable game-winner over OG Anunoby, who is now a Knick.
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The episode ends with Kyle’s mom chewing out Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his actions in the ongoing war.
Verb
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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.
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In November, Green spoke to PEOPLE at the 2025 CMA Awards in Nashville, and shared a similar story about his friends ragging on him for being crowned Sexiest Country Star Alive.
Verb
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Americans across the nation are being asked (or ordered) to conserve water, thanks to widespread drought made even worse by a punishing heat wave.
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Congress cannot diminish their pay to punish an unpopular decision.
Verb
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Soon though, Shawna noticed some of Zaayer's strange behaviors — including scolding her grandson, getting upset over cleaning habits and allegedly showing them racist videos.
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Justice Barrett actually sounded kind of sharp, almost scolding, in the opinion in her criticism of the assertions made by the plaintiffs and some of the justices in the minority.
Verb
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Paraguay continued the physicality through the end of the match, with the teams even jawing at each other after final whistle.
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That time, Duran had to be held back by coaches after jawing with the fan.
Verb
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Some commentators in the United States have taken the opportunity to lecture Europeans, and perhaps even indulge in a little schadenfreude.
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The work, then, is not to lecture communities into trusting us.
Cite this Entry
“Tell off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tell%20off. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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