tattler

as in informant
a person who provides information about another's wrongdoing as the office's resident tattler, she can be counted on to report any unauthorized use of the photocopiers

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Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tattler Mortimer Zuckerman, the owner, hired him to replace a British editor who had turned it from a brash, tough-guy paper into a tattler of celebrity gossip and supermarket tabloid stunts. Robert D. McFadden, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Aug. 2020 Being a tattler or someone who is too focused on the drama rarely works out, largely because those dudes are more focused on screen time than the lead. Martha Sorren, refinery29.com, 20 June 2019 There are social repercussions for kids who develop a reputation as tattlers: they get left out. K. Lori Hanson Ph.d., miamiherald, 8 Mar. 2018 Dwight and Eugene remain at an ideological impasse, but Eugene is too busy waffling between his morality and his desire to stay alive to actually pick a side—and for reasons unknown, Dwight hasn’t found a way to simply ax the potential tattler. Laura Bradley, HWD, 3 Dec. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tattler
Noun
  • Revelations that Tarrio had acted as an informant for law enforcement in 2012 and 2014 caused further divides in the group.
    Kristen Waggoner, Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2025
  • The investigation never uncovered evidence of a key claim — that both father and son accepted a bribe — and the former FBI informant who made the claim pleaded guilty last year to fabricating the claim.
    Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 20 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Given the increasingly absurd pretexts the state is using for criminal prosecution and the resounding success of informers of all stripes, the judicial crackdown will continue to worsen.
    Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 17 May 2024
  • Standing in his way are British spies, French informers and jealous colleagues.
    Liza Foreman, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024
Noun
  • After the woman delivered a healthy baby boy, her symptoms led to a cancer diagnosis, and doctors theorized that the NIPT had been the canary in the coal mine: Her tumors were shedding abnormal DNA into the bloodstream, which skewed the prenatal test results.
    ByJennifer Couzin-Frankel, science.org, 4 Dec. 2024
  • Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor.
    Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • The two of them, as though after a party, would have stood at the sink cleaning dishes and wondering which among the attendees was the traitor, the tattletale.
    Hazlitt, Hazlitt, 26 July 2023
  • We’re basically guaranteed to see that thing where one person tells Zach that another person is there for the wrong reasons, but then the tattletale winds up consumed by their own vendetta and self-sabotages.
    Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2023
Noun
  • While the agency says that studies show the way Red 3 causes cancer in rats does not occur in humans, the law still requires additives that cause cancer in animals to be pulled from the market even if they are not proven to pose a risk to humans as well.
    Alexander Tin, CBS News, 16 Jan. 2025
  • Studies dating back to the 1980s suggested a link between Red Dye No. 3 and cancer in lab rats, raising alarms about its safety.
    Stephanie Gravalese, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near tattler

Cite this Entry

“Tattler.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tattler. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.

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