telltale
pronunciation
How to pronounce telltale in British English:
UK [ˈtelteɪl]
How to pronounce telltale in American English:
US [ˈtɛlˌtel]
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- Noun:
- someone who gossips indiscreetly
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- Adjective:
- disclosing unintentionally
Word Origin
- telltale (n.)
- also tell-tale, "discloser of secrets," 1540s, from tell (v.) + tale. As an adjective from 1590s. Phrase tell a tale "relate a false or exaggerated story" is from late 13c.
Example
- 1. In official indian parlance such proof is grimly referred to as " telltale signs " .
- 2. Researchers found the same telltale signature of drought in a deep-sea sediment core drilled from the gulf of oman .
- 3. The telltale smell of cigarettes told her that he had been in the room .
- 4. After intercepting the key , she can make it record just the right pattern of bits without any of the telltale errors her eavesdropping was supposed to introduce .
- 5. The new techniques he developed with his co-authors -- once thought to be technically impossible , or at least 10 years into the future -- will help astronomers identify the telltale signatures of black hole mergers .