tattletale

American  

[tat-l-teyl] / ˈtæt lˌteɪl /

noun

tattletales plural

1. a talebearer or informer, especially among children.

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adjective

1. telltale; revealing.

   a tattletale smear of lipstick on his collar.

tattletale British  

/ ˈtætəlˌteɪl /

noun

1. a scandalmonger or gossip

2. another word for telltale

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tattletales
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tattletale

An Americanism dating back to 1885–90; tattle + tale

Explanation

A tattletale is a person who tries to get someone in trouble by revealing secret information about them. Your tattletale brother will probably tell your parents that you were actually at the movies, not the library. The word tattletale is mostly used in the U.S. (in Britain it's more common to use telltale). It comes from the verb tattle, "report someone's wrongdoing." In the 16th century, you'd have called a tattletale a pickthank. These days, you can also use words like snitch or whistle-blower.

Example Sentences

Danielle Spencer, the former child star who played sassy tattletale Dee Thomas on the 1970s sitcom “What’s Happening!!,” has died.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 12, 2025

But now that she and my 12-year-old son are at home, I think she wasn’t making friends for a reason: She’s a huge tattletale.

From Slate • Oct. 26, 2020

You can avoid being branded a tattletale or flirt or a traitor.

From Salon • Sep. 20, 2019

Baby Knox took a couple of sucks off his pacifier before returning to his tattletale meltdown.

From Washington Times • Apr. 28, 2019

This wouldn’t be so bad if Mr. Dussel weren’t such a tattletale and hadn’t singled out Mother to be the recipient of his reports.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank