told off

verb

past tense of tell off
as in cut up

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for told off
  1. cut up
  2. dressed down
  3. ragged
  4. chewed out
  5. scolded
  6. upbraided
  7. berated
  8. punished
Verb
  • One of the women was cut up and wearing a bathing suit while Kovalcik was shirtless.
    — Robert McGreevy, FOXNews.com, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Sporting Kansas City joined the vanquished Galaxy and Real Salt Lake on Saturday as LAFC cut up the last-place team in the Western Conference, 4-0.
    — Josh Gross, Daily News, 26 July 2026
Definition of cut up
Verb
  • The versatile shirt can be dressed up for work with a skirt or slacks and dressed down on the weekends with lightweight pants or a denim jacket.
    — Jamie Weissman, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Aug. 2026
  • These rich-looking bottoms can be dressed up with heels and a sexy top or dressed down with a sweater or tee and loafers.
    — Jordan Julian, InStyle, 31 July 2026
Definition of dressed down
Verb
  • On that night in March, to the surprise of nobody, Arsenal ran their mid-table Premier League hosts ragged, beating them 5-1, with Henry and Freddie Ljungberg scoring twice, and Kolo Toure netting the other.
    — Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2026
Definition of ragged
Verb
  • Being chewed out was nothing new, part of life as a football player.
    — Nick Kosmider, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • About eight or nine hours into a punishing shoot, nerves were fraying, and Mike McGuirk was getting chewed out by a camera operator.
    — Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
Definition of chewed out
Verb
  • The curious boys climbed onto the roof of their home for a better look, but climbed back down when scolded by their grandmother.
    — Rina Nakano, CBS News, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Kirson remembered, adding that, minutes later, the show’s production team scolded her.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 22 July 2026
Definition of scolded
Verb
  • One upbraided Tufty for this comment.
    — Eric Adler June 4, Kansas City Star, 4 June 2026
  • At a hearing two days after the government dropped its charges against Baraka, the judge upbraided Stephen Demanovich, a federal prosecutor who had been assigned the case.
    — Jonathan Blitzer, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026
Definition of upbraided
Verb
  • The next day, after Trump berated Republicans for allowing the measure to pass, the Senate rejected a nearly identical resolution, but the earlier rebuke was unmistakable.
    — KORI SCHAKE, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The first rally in Seattle resulted in a national controversy when Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton allegedly berated two young Cunningham fans who attended, as the owner was later suspended for five home games and fined.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of berated
Verb
  • Restrictions have extended outside the classroom, with some teachers being fired or punished for criticizing conservative activist Charlie Kirk after his assassination.
    — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 7 Aug. 2026
  • This is in part because of the psychological need to believe in a just world, where good people are rewarded and bad people are punished.
    — Jen Cole Wright, The Conversation, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of punished
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

told (of)
told off
told (on)
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Cite this Entry

“Told off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/told%20off. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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