chuckle
Americanverb (used without object)
-
chuckles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chuckled,
past participle, past
-
chuckling
present participle
-
to laugh softly or amusedly, usually with satisfaction.
They chuckled at the child's efforts to walk.
-
to laugh to oneself.
to chuckle while reading.
-
Obsolete. to cluck, as a fowl.
noun
-
chuckles
plural
-
a soft laugh, usually of satisfaction.
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Obsolete. the cluck of a hen.
verb
-
to laugh softly or to oneself
-
(of animals, esp hens) to make a clucking sound
noun
Synonym Usage
See laugh.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
chucklesimple
-
chucklessimple
-
have chuckledperfect
-
has chuckledperfect
-
am chucklingprogressive
-
are chucklingprogressive
-
is chucklingprogressive
-
have been chucklingperfect progressive
-
has been chucklingperfect progressive
Past
-
chuckledsimple
-
had chuckledperfect
-
was chucklingprogressive
-
were chucklingprogressive
-
had been chucklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chuckle
Explanation
Chuckle is as fun to say as it is to do. In fact, just the sound of the word chuckle may make you feeling like chuckling, or laughing softly. Chuckle is one of many words for different kinds of laughter. These include giggle, titter, snicker, and a word that is a cross between chuckle and snort — chortle. These words are all imitative. That is, the word itself sounds like the noise it refers to. With all these words for laughter, it may be hard to choose the right one for the occasion. Use chuckle when you mean a quiet, even soundless laugh.
Vocabulary lists containing chuckle
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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:
Looking back, both chuckle at what Hibbs now calls his “fairly naive hope.”
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
"As he was coming off, I said to him 'great save Nigel Martyn' because Hitchy was a Leeds fan and he had a little chuckle to himself," says Bowsley.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
"The Man in the Red Bandana. He's become more famous than me, I don't like it," Trump said with a chuckle.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
The quip got a mild chuckle out of Mastro, though not much more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
“I love this,” he said, bursting into a chuckle before turning to the dour-looking officer next to him.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Evans chuckles at the suggestion that today’s Dodgers are bad for the sport.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Award show producers seemed to scramble for hosts that didn’t already have a record of ruffling feathers and could, at the bare minimum, garner a few chuckles from the crowd.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026
"With so many unanswered questions, gravity remains one of the most fascinating areas of research. It's a naturally attractive field," Gallardo chuckles.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Alex McKechnie chuckles at the leap of faith he took when he packed up almost all his belongings in Glasgow and booked a one-way flight to Vancouver, Canada on 7 September 1974.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
“I suppose that’s my workout for the day,” he chuckles.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
When asked if she would run for president in the 2028 elections after being shown polling reflecting her popularity as a potential candidate, Ocasio-Cortez chuckled and tried to sidestep a direct answer.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Baker smiled widely, nodded his head, greeted Ortiz in Spanish, chuckled and walked over to Ortiz and Vladimir Guerrero, giving each of them hugs and pats on the back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
“For me, it was about these empowerment sessions. But somebody reminded me, ‘You know, people like to have fun too,’” Sue chuckled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
“Your first line’s coming up. Terrifying. And I remember I said my first line and Meryl sort of chuckled quietly, and I was like, Thank God.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
He chuckled and glanced back at us with an awkward assurance.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
The filmmaker, or God, can almost be heard chuckling offscreen as the final frames roll.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
“Crazy, right? AR keeps calling me a vet,” James said, chuckling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
"This is how an African dad looks at you when you pursue a career that goes against his wishes and you turn out to be successful," a chuckling Itauma reads aloud to BBC Sport.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
Many are asking “What happened to Lindsey Graham?,” but nobody is chuckling.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
“Why can’t you just go away and let me be miserable?” she said, but she was chuckling and hugging Abby as she said it.
From "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
