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

Rather than try to flee, the larger speedboat began circling the inflatable, taunting the four Civil Guard officers aboard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

The Wrigley faithful turned up the heat, taunting “Skuuuuubaaaaalll.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

Owner Tara Zaman said they targeted the shop several times, "taking things" and "taunting" and "tormenting" her staff.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

The boy continued his taunting throughout the period.

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

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

The married state, is much like this, O'rewhelm'd with many crosses, Yet must be born, see how it is, With tauntings, toils, and losses.

From The Ten Pleasures of Marriage and the Second Part, The Confession of the New Married Couple by A. Marsh

Where, then, will be your tauntings and your vauntings, your boastings and your braggings?

From The History of the Life of the Late Mr Jonathan Wild the Great by Henry Fielding

Gerda rose from the foam where she had been playing serenely impervious to the tauntings of Kay.

From Dangerous Ages by Dame Rose Macaulay

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