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Definition
someone who gossips indiscreetly;or: disclosing unintentionally
- His age was beginning to show, his one sign of inner turmoil, the strong line of his jaw melted a little, one became aware of telltale creases forming under his ears, one noticed not his jet-black hair but the gray patches growing at his temples.Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird
telltale = showing unintentionally
- He listened for telltale sounds.Tim O'Brien -- Going After Cacciato
- Glass darted down the unfamiliar corridor, straining her eyes for the telltale silver gleam of an air vent.Kass Morgan -- The 100
- The others had come pretty regularly and he expected his ring to start moving with the telltale quiver any second.D.J. Machale -- The Merchant of Death
- But as we neared the aft engine gangways, I heard the telltale vibration of the port propeller.Kenneth Oppel -- Airborn
- The telltale smell of smoke filtered in through the open windows.Alexandra Bracken -- The Darkest Minds
- Even Beatrice wasn't sure, turning the viewfinder sideways and upside down as she tried in vain to identify a telltale part of owl anatomy.Carl Hiassen -- Hoot
- And one of the most telltale things is that the classic autistic individual will laugh out loud and find it to be this moment of real physical comedy.Malcolm Gladwell -- Blink
- I watched for her hair to curl, the telltale Caster breeze.Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl -- Beautiful Creatures
- But not before I see telltale redness in his eyes.Sabaa Tahir -- An Ember in the Ashes
- Up close his skin bore the telltale dark traceries of hunger.Cassandra Clare -- City of Glass
- Seeing nothing, he listens for a telltale clip-clop of approaching horseshoes.Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard -- Killing Lincoln
- At Mira's invitation, she took a seat, folded her hands to keep them from any telltale restless movements.J.D. Robb -- Naked in Death
- He was hiding his right forearm, which clearly showed the telltale bluish marks of a syringe.W. William Winokur -- The Perfect Game
- Then Salva saw the telltale flick of a crocodile's tail as it flopped into the water near the young man.Linda Sue Park -- A Long Walk to Water
- Last week, Tono had found a little rod behind Mama's wedding picture—a telltale sign of bugging.Julia Alvarez -- In the Time of the Butterflies
- He listened for soldiers as he waited, scanning the inky landscape for the telltale flash of torches.Christopher Paolini -- Eragon
- But then the disease became more active, the volcano started rumbling, oozing lava, spitting telltale traces of sulfurous gas when the wind was right.Abraham Verghese -- Cutting for Stone
- We knocked on the walls, listening for a telltale hollow sound; we felt for hidden seams.Gail Carson Levine -- Ella Enchanted
- He wonders if he's running a low fever; this morning he examined his tongue in the mirror for telltale blanching and spots.Margaret Atwood -- Alias Grace