telling
adj.adj. showing the truth about a situation, even if someone is trying to hide it. You use this to describe a small detail that reveals a much bigger secret or problem.
adj. revealing or betraying a significant truth, often unintentionally. Frequently used to describe a detail, remark, or action that exposes an underlying reality or character trait.
Her nervous smile was a telling sign of her stress.
The most telling moment of the interview was when the CEO refused to answer questions about the company's debt.
While the official report was optimistic, the telling silence from the engineering team suggested that the project was far from completion.
Gerund from the verb tell, from tell + -ing.
Typically used as an attributive adjective before a noun like 'sign', 'detail', or 'moment'.
- 01
hard telling, not knowing
I don't know.
- 02
I'm not telling you
Used to express that someone doesn't need to know something, typically because it is a secret (sometimes used as a way to attempt to hide someone's wrongdoing); may also be used when someone tries to ask for answers while doing an assignment or examination, or private or confidential information, including passwords.
- 03
there is no telling
Used to indicate that something cannot be known or predicted with certainty.