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'll miss our chats and I'll miss catching him off guard and making him chortle.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
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, Israelis and others in the Middle East need to worry—or chortle over—his intentions there as well.
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2023
The rest of us will be content to drool at each of Bertha's fabulous dresses or chortle at Agnes' quick comebacks.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2022
He turned to his host and whispered something that made their master chortle and lick his lips ... though there was a hint of anger in those slitted yellow eyes, it seemed to Tyrion.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
"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
The hens spilled out of the doorway and started pecking at the grass with little chortles of glee.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
California competition, cheered and chortled last week when Musk announced he was moving the headquarters of his Tesla electric vehicle company from Silicon Valley to Austin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2021
When Van Peebles decided to try to make the movie himself, Hollywood chortled.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 24, 2021
“I mean it is,” Ms Barrymore said, and they chortled.
From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 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
“We’ll have to suggest that to the committee. Maybe they’d study it,” Jonas said slyly, and Larissa chortled with laughter.
From "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
“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
“If Rishi Sunak can’t keep his own dog on a leash how is he going to keep the big dog Boris Johnson on one?” the caller asked, leaving the radio host chortling.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 15, 2023
Rogers, for her part, is chortling all the way to her campaign treasurer’s office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
In minutes I hear the water gushing down the sluiceway, bubbling and chortling along until it spills out the end and strikes the paddles of the wheel just forward of its highest point.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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.
