tattle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
tattles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tattled,
past participle, past
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tattling
present participle
-
to let out secrets.
-
to chatter, prate, or gossip.
verb (used with object)
-
tattles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tattled,
past participle, past
-
tattling
present participle
noun
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tattles
plural
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the act of tattling.
-
idle talk; chatter; gossip.
verb
-
(intr) to gossip about another's personal matters or secrets
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(tr) to reveal by gossiping
to tattle a person's secrets
-
(intr) to talk idly; chat
noun
-
the act or an instance of tattling
-
a scandalmonger or gossip
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tattlesimple
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tattlessimple
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have tattledperfect
-
has tattledperfect
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am tattlingprogressive
-
are tattlingprogressive
-
is tattlingprogressive
-
have been tattlingperfect progressive
-
has been tattlingperfect progressive
Past
-
tattledsimple
-
had tattledperfect
-
was tattlingprogressive
-
were tattlingprogressive
-
had been tattlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tattle
1475–85; < Dutch tatelen; cognate with Middle Low German tatelen
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.
See Examples For:
Several veteran MPs have been mentioned as likely candidates to retire and create a vacancy for the former cabinet minister, but Dowd said it was "tittle tattle" that he wanted to "put to bed".
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
It has morphed into a broader movement and mind-set encouraging people to tattle on one another to the courts or the state — with grave consequences.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 6, 2022
“If Walls Could Talk” they might tattle on the home healthcare worker a woman hires to look after her widowed mother in this new TV movie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2022
And if you have to dig out the recipes again in June, well, I'm not about to tattle on you.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2021
Not to tattle on anyone, like a baby.
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
Crawford busts up the little gathering and tattles to Davis: “Your girl was corrupting my twins.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2017
The Place de la Concorde now gleams a pale ochre; the massive Corinthian columns of the Madeleine glow a soft pink; the Louvre no longer tattles of neglect.
From Time Magazine Archive
Already a gossip, Tripp was now doubtless more attuned than ever to tattles she could tell.
From Time Magazine Archive
One young woman whom he tattles on has been wronged by Sam Gobel himself.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Ruth sent six hundred texts last month,” Elisha tattles.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Since then, said colleague has gone ghost on a project with me, and I have reason to believe Amy might have tattled.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2023
A disgruntled Congressional Country Club member tattled on the course for removing too many trees.
From Golf Digest ● Oct. 16, 2018
I believe I tattled as much on me as anybody else.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2013
Because the I.T.F. never revealed the nature of its agreement with Odesnik, a perception emerged, fairly or not, that he tattled on some of his peers.
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2012
Had one of the other girls tattled so soon?
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
Michael Freedman, a California defense lawyer, said he has noticed an uptick in incidents of jurors tattling on one another to judges rather than working out their differences in jury rooms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
So when another former teammate, Kyle Schwarber, ambled to his locker a few minutes later, Turner feigned the role of tattling little brother.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 4, 2023
In the end, the BSC vanquishes the BSA by, essentially, tattling on them to the town’s parents.
From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2020
Now, he said, “Bark has taken that piece out of it. The other student doesn’t have to feel like they’re betraying or tattling or anything like that.”
From The Guardian ● Oct. 22, 2019
“Now before we get into anything, ladies, no scratching, no spitting, and no tattling to Mommy.”
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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.
