adjective
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having a marked effect or impact
a telling blow
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revealing
a telling smile
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of telling
Explanation
Something that's telling is either significant,or it reveals information. Getting twice as much allowance will have a telling effect on your ability to buy new books. When it comes to economics, a telling indicator of a country's state is how much money its citizens spend each month. And you can see that a movie has had a telling effect on its audience if it leaves them all weeping. If you reveal something without meaning to, that's telling as well: "The look on his face was telling." This adjective dates from the mid-1800s, from the verb tell and its sense of "to reveal or disclose."
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.
Shalit’s family confirmed the longtime critic’s death Friday, telling NBC that he “passed away peacefully after 100 years of an amazing life.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2026
There Fisk tried to shift the focus to the threat of monopoly, telling the press they were fighting to keep food prices low for “the poorer classes especially.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
Sharon AI is burning through cash, with Manning telling investors last month that it was making about $39 million worth of capital expenditures for each megawatt of capacity.
From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026
Bloom, who shares daughter Daisy with Perry, later broke his silence on their separation, telling “Today” host Craig Melvin during a September interview that everything between them is “great.”
From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026
There was no telling what might happen if he took the Nanuak into the cave.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
