telling
adj.
striking; effective
n.
tale, story
tell
v.
relate; know; discover, discern; command
Teller
telling
Noun
1. an act of narration; "he was the hero according to his own relation"; "his endless recounting of the incident eventually became unbearable"
(synonym) relation, recounting
(hypernym) narration, recital, yarn
(derivation) tell, narrate, recount, recite
2. informing by words
(synonym) apprisal, notification
(hypernym) informing, making known
(hyponym) notice
(derivation) state, say, tell
3. disclosing information or giving evidence about another
(synonym) tattle, singing
(hypernym) disclosure, revelation, revealing
(derivation) tell, evidence
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"
(synonym) revealing, telltale(a)
(similar) informative, informatory
2. powerfully persuasive; "a cogent argument"; "a telling presentation"; "a weighty argument"
(synonym) cogent, weighty
(similar) forceful
3. producing a strong effect; "gave an impressive performance as Othello"; "a telling gesture"
(synonym) impressive
(similar) effective, effectual, efficacious
tell
Verb
1. express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name"
(synonym) state, say
(hypernym) express, verbalize, verbalise, utter, give tongue to
(hyponym) present, represent, lay out
(verb-group) say
(derivation) narrator, storyteller, teller
2. let something be known; "Tell them that you will be late"
(hypernym) inform
(hyponym) digress, stray, divagate, wander
(see-also) tell off, brush down
(derivation) narrative, narration, story, tale
3. narrate or give a detailed account of; "Tell what happened"; "The father told a story to his child"
(synonym) narrate, recount, recite
(hypernym) inform
(hyponym) relate
(derivation) narrative, narration, story, tale
4. give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed"
(synonym) order, enjoin, say
(hypernym) request
(hyponym) direct
5. discern or comprehend; "He could tell that she was unhappy"
(hypernym) guess, infer
6. inform positively and with certainty and confidence; "I tell you that man is a crook!"
(synonym) assure
(hypernym) affirm, verify, assert, avow, aver, swan, swear
7. give evidence; "he was telling on all his former colleague"
(synonym) evidence
(hypernym) inform
(see-also) recognize, recognise, distinguish, discern, pick out, make out, tell apart
(derivation) tattle, singing, telling
8. mark as different; "We distinguish several kinds of maple"
(synonym) distinguish, separate, differentiate, secern, secernate, severalize, severalise, tell apart
(hypernym) identify, place
(hyponym) know
(entail) compare
telling (de)
n.
counting
Telling
(p. pr. & vb. n.)
of Tell
(a.)
Operating with great effect; effective; as, a telling speech.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
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