teller
noun
a person or thing that tells, relates, or communicates; narrator.
teller
1 American
[tel-er]
/ ˈtɛl ər /
noun
-
tellers
plural
-
a person or thing that tells, relates, or communicates; narrator.
Grandpa was a great teller of tall, tall tales.
-
a person employed in a bank to receive or pay out money over the counter.
-
a person who tells, counts, or enumerates, as one appointed to count votes in a legislative body.
Teller
2
American
[tel-er]
/ ˈtɛl ər /
noun
teller
1
British
/ ˈtɛlə /
noun
-
another name for cashier 1
-
a person appointed to count votes in a legislative body, assembly, etc
-
a person who tells; narrator
Teller
2
British
/ ˈtɛlə /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of teller
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at tell 1, -er 1
Explanation
A teller is either someone who tells some sort of story or a person who works in a bank. A bank clerk who loves to talk about her adventures? She's both kinds of teller. You might be a teller of tales, known for spinning stories, or a teller of lies, famous for your fibs. If you're a teller at a bank, you cash customers' checks and make their deposits. There aren't as many bank tellers as there once were, since this job is increasingly done by ATMs, or automatic teller machines. Teller comes from an obscure sense of the verb tell, "count."
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:
She and Mark met at a local bank where she worked for years as a teller.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
She was thinking about a bank teller who had been flirting with her spouse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
You could presumably use the fortune teller thing from “The Twilight Zone,” where you put a nickel in and a little slip of paper comes out.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Ubraniak plays not only Sam but also Clay, the manager of Primary Trust, the bank that takes a chance on Kenneth, offering him a teller slot.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
“What do you want new bills for?” asked the teller.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
“Sometimes I’ll refer to myself as the Chief Truth Teller, just so I can be really candid.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Brandon Teller, one of the county’s most prominent beekeepers, saw a Watch Duty fire notification on May 19 and headed straight to his apiary.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Teller stressed that native insects are critical to local ecosystems, and that his imported honeybees in fact depend on native ecology.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Oscar nominee Colman Domingo plays the singer's father Joe Jackson in the film, which also stars Nia Long as mother Katherine Jackson, and Top Gun: Maverick star Miles Teller as entertainment lawyer John Branca.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
The technological issues, Teller acknowledged, were far from being solved; indeed, it was unclear they even could be solved.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Fashion designer Donatella Versace said: "The world has lost one of the kindest and most generous of souls, the greatest of story tellers and a true legend of music."
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Then scammers typically pile on pressure, adding voices claiming to be attorneys, courtroom clerks or bank tellers -- a cast of fictitious characters in a chaotic, urgent-sounding call.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
The Syrian Revolution inspired Zaalan to become a clown after losing friends, acquaintances and inspirations who were truth tellers and artists.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
In the same way that air stewards are there for your safety, first and foremost, above and beyond serving you tea and coffee, bank tellers are there as frontline protection.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2025
But a strange and catholic selection of citizens tiptoed to the chapel door and peered in and went away—lawyers and laborers and clerks and bank tellers, most of them past middle age.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
