kiss-and-tell

[kis-uhn-tel]

adjective

1. describing a book, article, interview, etc., in which someone publicly gives details of private interactions, especially sexual relationships.

   Many years later, she spilled all the embarrassing details of her ordeal in a bestselling kiss-and-tell memoir.

kiss-and-tell

1. denoting the practice of publicizing one's former sexual relationship with a celebrity, esp in the tabloid press

   a kiss-and-tell interview

Word History and Origins

Origin of kiss-and-tell¹

First recorded in 1920–25, for an earlier sense

Idioms and Phrases

Betray a confidence, as in A real lady doesn't kiss and tell. This idiom originally alluded to betraying an amorous or sexual intimacy. First recorded in 1695, it is still so used, as well as more loosely, as in Don't ask how I voted; I don't kiss and tell.

When To Use

What does kiss and tell mean?

Kiss and tell means to reveal details about one’s romantic or sexual encounters, especially about the person one has had these encounters with.The phrase can also be used as a noun referring to the revelation of such details, as in The media was obsessed with the billionaire’s scandalous kiss and tell.It can also be used as an adjective, in which case it’s typically hyphenated as kiss-and-tell, as in The gossip magazines are primarily interested in kiss-and-tell stories from celebrities. All forms of the phrase can also be used more generally in the context of a person revealing private information, especially information they had been entrusted with, as in Tom asked me who I voted for, but I don’t kiss and tell. Example: In middle school, you would always know when kids had played spin-the-bottle at a party, because they would always kiss and tell.