TELLTALE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does telltale mean? 

• TELLTALE (noun)
  The noun TELLTALE has 1 sense:

1. someone who gossips indiscreetly

  Familiarity information: TELLTALE used as a noun is very rare.

• TELLTALE (adjective)
  The adjective TELLTALE has 1 sense:

1. disclosing unintentionally something concealed

  Familiarity information: TELLTALE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TELLTALE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who gossips indiscreetly

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

blabbermouth; talebearer; taleteller; tattler; tattletale; telltale

Hypernyms ("telltale" is a kind of...):

gossip; gossiper; gossipmonger; newsmonger; rumormonger; rumourmonger (a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others)

Derivation:

telltale (disclosing unintentionally something concealed)

• TELLTALE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Disclosing unintentionally something concealed

Synonyms:

revealing; telling; telltale

Context example:

a telltale patch of oil on the water marked where the boat went down

Similar:

informative; informatory (providing or conveying information)

Derivation:

telltale (someone who gossips indiscreetly)

 Context examples 

They found the telltale signs of a compact, massive object in the cluster's heart.

(Elusive Middleweight Black Hole Found at Center of Giant Star Cluster, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The last telltale sign of Planet Nine's presence involves the solar system's contrarians: objects from the Kuiper Belt that orbit in the opposite direction from everything else in the solar system.

(The Super-Earth that Came Home for Dinner, NASA)

To the amazement of the Hubble team, they found the spectra of both planets not to have any telltale chemical signatures.

('Cotton Candy' Planet Mysteries Unravel in New Hubble Observations, NASA)

Louis tells me that the gossip of the sailors finds its way aft, and that two of the telltales have been badly beaten by their mates.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The dust distribution is a telltale sign of how dynamically interactive the inner system containing the ring is.

(Hubble Finds Huge System of Dusty Material Enveloping the Young Star HR 4796A, NASA)

They found that all expanding rimmed spots seen on the scans had the telltale features of chronic active lesions when examined under a microscope.

(Smoldering spots in the brain may signal severe multiple sclerosis, National Institutes of Health)

In 2013, thanks to the second tsunami wave, the team acquired evidence that Voyager had been flying for more than a year through plasma that was 40 times denser than measured before — a telltale indicator of interstellar space.

(Sun sends more 'tsunami waves' to Voyager 1, NASA)

The Chandra data revealed X-ray sources - a telltale sign of material being consumed by the black holes - at the bright centers of each galaxy in the merger, exactly where scientists expect supermassive black holes to reside.

(Three Black Holes on Collision Course, NASA)

But now, using a novel planet-hunting technique that identifies unusual patterns in the flow of gas within a planet-forming disc around a young star, two teams of astronomers have each confirmed distinct, telltale hallmarks of newly formed planets orbiting an infant star.

(ALMA Discovers Trio of Infant Planets around Newborn Star, ESO)

"Good afternoon. I came to get my umbrella, that is, to see how your father finds himself today," said Mr. Brooke, getting a trifle confused as his eyes went from one telltale face to the other.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)