noun
- a talebearer or informer, especially among children.
adjective
- telltale; revealing: a tattletale smear of lipstick on his collar.
noun mainly US and Canadian
- a scandalmonger or gossip
- another word for telltale (def. 1)
n.formed in English 1888 from tattle + tale. Probably patterned on telltale (1540s). A 16c. word for “tattle-tale” was pickthank.