taunting

American

[tawn-ting, tahn-] / ˈtɔn tɪŋ, ˈtɑn- /

adjective

reproaching or challenging someone in a sarcastic, insulting, or scornful way.

The Times obtained copies of his emails, which our reviewer found unquestionably harassing, with a taunting quality to them.

noun

the act or an instance of reproaching or challenging someone in this way.

The taunting included comments such as "Go home!" and "What are you doing in our country?"

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

tauntings

plural

Etymology

Origin of taunting

First recorded in 1540–50; taunt ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective; taunt ¹ ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun

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:

taunting tauntings

Never mind their dozens of targeted social media posts and years of taunting.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

Neither incidents involved taunting players from the opposing team, and both of those techs have reportedly been rescinded.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

Sean Duffy is even taunting Pete Buttigieg about it, in a bout of dreaded intra–transportation secretary violence.

From Slate ● May 5, 2026

The Georgia winger is as effective as he is mesmerising, taunting opposition with a languid but unstoppable dribbling style, socks at half mast on his calves, defenders clawing at the scorched turf left behind him.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

But as they became preoccupied with exchanging autographs, a few of them let up on chasing and taunting us.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

His tauntings washed over Kingshaw, they sounded babyish, he didn't care at all what Hooper said.

From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill

Stay thy chattering chin, And reel the tauntings of thy vain tongue in, Nor tempt me further with thy vaporish boast That I am helpless to combat thee!

From Green Fields and Running Brooks, and Other Poems by James Whitcomb Riley

Antinoüs hath a tongue accustom’d much To tauntings, and promotes them in the rest.

From The Odyssey of Homer by William Cowper

Go with your tauntings, go; Neer think to hurt me so; I'll scoff at your disdain.

From Poems Chiefly from Manuscript by John Clare

"Such tauntings are but a childish barter of words."

From The President A novel by Alfred Henry Lewis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023