adjective
-
having a marked effect or impact
a telling blow
-
revealing
a telling smile
Other Word Forms
- tellingly adverb
- untelling adjective
Etymology
Origin of telling
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even more telling, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index is up around 5%, compared with a 1% gain for the standard S&P 500.
She remembers telling him he had to find ways of making money legitimately: "But then you find that the influence on the outside was greater than mine."
From BBC
On an unkempt lawn, red lanterns sway above a modest Chinese New Year celebration - a small but telling detail in a country where Beijing and Delhi are both vying hard for influence.
From BBC
In the film’s slightly alternate reality, Charli sighs and goes along with what everyone else is telling her to do, simply because she’s never found herself in this position before.
From Salon
"Only their mother can tell them apart," one investigator is quoted as telling the court in Bobigny, north of the French capital.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
