chortle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
chortles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chortled,
past participle, past
-
chortling
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
chortles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chortled,
past participle, past
-
chortling
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
chortlesimple
-
chortlessimple
-
have chortledperfect
-
has chortledperfect
-
am chortlingprogressive
-
are chortlingprogressive
-
is chortlingprogressive
-
have been chortlingperfect progressive
-
has been chortlingperfect progressive
Past
-
chortledsimple
-
had chortledperfect
-
was chortlingprogressive
-
were chortlingprogressive
-
had been chortlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chortle
Blend of chuckle and snort; coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871)
Explanation
A chortle is a joyful, partly muffled laugh. If you have a toddler, you will recognize the sound of a delighted chortle, sort of louder and a bit more raucous than a giggle. In 1871, Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice in Wonderland, coined the word chortle in the poem "Jabberwocky," about a son who slays a monster and comes back to his relieved and happy father: "'O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!' He chortled in his joy." Experts consider the word a blend of the words chuckle and snort and the laugh itself is also a cross between the two. You may chortle in glee if you find out your work nemesis just got a new job in another office — out of state.
Vocabulary lists containing chortle
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Instead of "Said": Words for Upbeat Banter
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List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I am trying to say it publicly to make sure he sees it,” Rogen says with his trademark chortle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2025
I’d scoff and chortle and avoid it, thinking that water was superfluous, extraneous, not something that would “make or break” whatever it was I was cooking.
From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2024
If Kate DiCamillo wrote a book about a box of Swiffer refills, it would probably make us chortle and sob about lint.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Now, a new, more virile chortle has risen to take its place.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2023
She laughed, a low, sweet chortle that warmed me to my heart.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
"With a wig and a moustache," he chortles, while wearing the sort of sheepskin coat that even Del Boy might have rejected on taste grounds.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
The name Hank McCune may be lost to history, but his short-lived television sitcom will forever be remembered for its chuckles, chortles, giggles and guffaws.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
“What’s that shiny ring you got there? … Well, OK, I’m not gonna take it from you. That seems really precious to you,” he says as the audience chortles.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
As Christmas chortles atop an all-terrain vehicle while wielding a .50 caliber weapon, it looks like the whole thing could have been shot with rear projection, the green-screen work is so shoddy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
“Never thought I’d be in a sleeping bag on the ground,” chortles Kelvin.
From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
When Van Peebles decided to try to make the movie himself, Hollywood chortled.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 24, 2021
“You should have heard yourself,” he chortled back at me, “you said ‘What country friends is this?’ in a thick South African accent!”
From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2020
It’s something of an inside joke and every time he punched the line, everyone chortled.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2019
Stoya: I straight-up chortled when I was reading the question through for the first time.
From Slate ● May 23, 2019
“Let’s get the new girl to do it,” Heather chortled.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
“OK, I think I can,” he relents, before chortling and adding: “I seriously don’t want to.”
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2024
Soon enough, I was chortling right alongside him.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2023
Jesters on social media have already begun chortling about this movie’s minimalist title.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2023
A romance that can make a reader laugh aloud is a treat, especially if that book causes uncontrolled chortling in public, or punctures the silence of an otherwise quiet space.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 3, 2022
The rooster ran inside the crate, chortling happily.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
