English

Adjective

telling ‎(comparative more telling, superlative most telling)

1. having force
2. revealing information
   • 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):

     But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low.

3. serving to convince

Verb

telling

1. present participle of tell

Noun

telling ‎(plural tellings)

1. The act of narration.
2. The disclosure of information.
3. (archaic) Counting, numbering.

Anagrams

• gillnet

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: tel‧ling

Etymology

From tellen +‎ -ing

Noun

telling f ‎(plural tellingen, diminutive tellinkje n)

1. counting, count

Derived terms

• jaartelling