as in kidding
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
grinned and gave him a joking nudge with my elbow
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in funning
to make jokes
he was known for his ability to joke about his lack of anything resembling a social life
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in teasing
to make fun of in a good-natured way
oh, don't get offended, I was just joking you
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in jesting
Related Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of joking
Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2025
And, everyone was joking about it behind his back.
—Todd Nordstrom, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
Of course, Martin and Short played right into the bit, with Short playfully falling to the floor after joking about how heavy the trophy was (multiple stars remarked about the weight of the statue during the live ceremony).
—Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2025
And here are some of the comments from fans joking about Kelce’s blocking ability off the football field.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 11 Mar. 2025
Fans took to the comment section, joking about the billionaire and the Masked Singer host's baby-making competition.
—Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
Hoffman is only joking, of course.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 3 Mar. 2025
Tim Lammers Apparently, Jagger wasn’t entirely joking.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Leigh, who had died of cancer a month earlier, in October 2015, had often asked her caregiver to move the hefty package and made seemingly joking references to a body being kept inside of it, according to the BBC.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 1 Mar. 2025
Noun
For myself and many of my classmates, the four-story Forever 21 in Times Square was the most exciting part of our senior-class trip to New York City—not joking!
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 18 Mar. 2025
And, everyone was joking about it behind his back.
—Todd Nordstrom, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
Of course, Martin and Short played right into the bit, with Short playfully falling to the floor after joking about how heavy the trophy was (multiple stars remarked about the weight of the statue during the live ceremony).
—Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 12 Mar. 2025
And here are some of the comments from fans joking about Kelce’s blocking ability off the football field.
—Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 11 Mar. 2025
Fans took to the comment section, joking about the billionaire and the Masked Singer host's baby-making competition.
—Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
Hoffman is only joking, of course.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 3 Mar. 2025
Tim Lammers Apparently, Jagger wasn’t entirely joking.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes, 3 Mar. 2025
Leigh, who had died of cancer a month earlier, in October 2015, had often asked her caregiver to move the hefty package and made seemingly joking references to a body being kept inside of it, according to the BBC.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 1 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for joking
Adjective
-
Mamdani joined her for a sarcastic infomercial on her account, criticizing Mayor Adams’ record.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
26 June 2025
-
Teaming up with Rebels like the enigmatic Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and the sarcastic droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Jyn’s quest for salvation and redemption runs right up to the beginning of the original film, Star Wars: A New Hope.—
Mekishana Pierre,
EW.com,
26 June 2025
Verb
-
Seinfeld was clearly teasing, but sure enough, several headlines reported it as gospel with perhaps a mention three paragraphs in that it was intended to be humorous.—
Jenelle Riley,
Variety,
6 Jan. 2025
-
From teasing his retirement to becoming a minister and everything in between, here’s a look at the Hollywood star’s year of surprises.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
Fox News,
5 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
That's nonsense… and anyone who's been a part of these productions knows that IN FACT the opposite is true.—
Shania Russell,
EW.com,
9 July 2025
-
The song was essentially one long joke about animal noises, and once the joke wore off, what remained was an insanely repetitive chorus of nonsense.—
John Werner,
Forbes.com,
7 July 2025
Adjective
-
Other jurors appeared curious and quizzical, some looking at Cassie or jotting notes.—
Michael R. Sisak,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2025
-
Team owner Shad Khan looked up with a quizzical expression.—
Michael Silver,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Joking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/joking. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share