chortle

[ chawr-tl ]

/ ˈtʃɔr tl /

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See synonyms for: chortle / chortled / chortling on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), chor·tled, chor·tling.

to chuckle gleefully.

verb (used with object), chor·tled, chor·tling.

to express with a gleeful chuckle: to chortle one's joy.

noun

a gleeful chuckle.

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Origin of chortle

Blend of chuckle and snort; coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass (1871)

OTHER WORDS FROM chortle

chortler, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chortle in a sentence

The glee and chortling that greeted Mr. Smith is a sign of bitterness and a focus on the past rather than the future.
Why Was Executive Greg Smith Shocked by Greed at Goldman Sachs?|Zachary Karabell|March 15, 2012|DAILY BEAST
But they are chortling about how ham-handed Burson's PR guys were.
Facebook Smear Blame Game|Dan Lyons|May 13, 2011|DAILY BEAST
In the hold, Kerk and Meta had opened some of the crates and were chortling with joy over their lethal contents.
Deathworld|Harry Harrison
Chortling with glee, Charon tottered back to his station and put one hand across the beam of a photo-electric eye.
Satan and the Comrades|Ralph Bennitt

With exceeding generosity he was not eating a grain himself, but scratching and chortling encouragingly.
The Golden Bird|Maria Thompson Daviess
The chortling truck gasped at the curves and tugged on the straightaway, but Robert Fairchild had ceased to hear.
The Cross-Cut|Courtney Ryley Cooper
The exclamation was caused by the sound of a voice, not in speaking, but in chortling, 54 as if pleased over something.
The Boy Patrol Around the Council Fire|Edward Sylvester Ellis

British Dictionary definitions for chortle

chortle

/ (ˈtʃɔːtəl) /

verb

(intr) to chuckle gleefully

noun

a gleeful chuckle

Derived forms of chortle

chortler, noun

Word Origin for chortle

C19: coined (1871) by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-glass; probably a blend of chuckle + snort

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

chortle

Origin of chortle

OTHER WORDS FROM chortle

Words related to chortle

How to use chortle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for chortle

Derived forms of chortle

Word Origin for chortle