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telly

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telly¹

  • /ˈtɛli/

Sounds like tally (celery-salary merger) · Rhymes with -ɛli

Where it comes from

Shortened form of tele(vision) + -y.

noun tellies · tellys · tele

  1. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable Television. Not much on telly tonight, as usual!
  2. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable A television set. We've got a new flat-screen telly.
  3. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable Telegraph.
  4. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable Telephone.
  5. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable Teleport.
  6. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable Telecommunication.

Similar: tube, TV

telly²

  • /ˈtɛli/

Sounds like tally (celery-salary merger) · Rhymes with -ɛli

Where it comes from

Shortened form of (ho)tel and/or (mo)tel + -y.

noun tellies

  1. Canada, Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, US, colloquial A hotel or motel. I'm staying at the telly this weekend.

telly³

  • /ˈtɛli/

Sounds like tally (celery-salary merger) · Rhymes with -ɛli

Where it comes from

From tell + -y, related to the writing advice show, don't tell.

adjective more telly · most telly

  1. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, informal, of a literary work Inclined to telling (by explicitly stating facts), instead of showing (by conveying an impression so that events are described in the narrative). I think my problem with it is that it's a) a little "telly" not "showy" in comparison to the rest […]

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: idiot box, tv, goggle box, tv set, television, television set, boob tube, television receiver, tele, news, show, scope, tube, custard, teevy, tv land

noun

Similar: tube, TV

Translations

Every language

noun television (medium) — see also television

Españoltele
한국어텔레비 tellebi
日本語テレビ terebi
Portuguêstevê
Françaistélé, téloche
Italianotele
Русскийте́лик télik

noun television set — see also television

Españoltele
Portuguêstevê
Françaistélé, téloche
DeutschGlotze, Fernseher, Flimmerkiste
Русскийте́лик télik, я́щик jáščik

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Cite this
MLA

"telly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/telly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

telly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/telly

Chicago

"telly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/telly.

BibTeX
@misc{telly_2026,
  title = {telly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/telly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}