Link Centre Dictionary

telling

tel·ling

UK/ˈtɛlɪŋ/ US/ˈtɛlɪŋ/ very common

adjective

1.

disclosing unintentionally

  • “a telling smile”
  • “a telltale panel of lights”
  • “a telltale patch of oil on the water marked where the boat went down”
2.

powerfully persuasive

  • “a cogent argument”
  • “a telling presentation”
  • “a weighty argument”
Similar
3.

producing a strong effect

  • “gave an impressive performance as Othello”
  • “a telling gesture”
Synonyms
Similar

noun

1.

an act of narration

  • “he was the hero according to his own relation”
  • “his endless recounting of the incident eventually became unbearable”

Origin

Gerund from the verb tell, from tell + -ing.

Phrases

  • ain't no telling
  • telling bone
  • there is no telling

Related words

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.