half-joking

adjective

said, done, or acting in a seemingly jokey manner, but with some serious intent

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Question 1 of 9

You may have read the word "simmer" in a recipe or two, but what does it really mean?

To cook in water that begins cold and then reaches a boil.

To stew in a sauce for a long time.

To cook in water, just below boiling temperature.

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Derived forms of half-joking

half-jokingly, adverb

Words nearby half-joking

half-hunter, halfies, half-inch, half-integral, half-jack, half-joking, half landing, half-lap joint, half-leather, half-length, half-life

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

Example sentences from the Web for half-joking

And, quite frankly, “the women were running out,” he said, half-joking.
Revealing The Unseen Picasso|Justin Jones|November 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“We can blame Carrie Bradshaw for this,” says Shaunaq Arora, half-joking; his sigh tinged with the cloudy breath of his Gauloises.
How Brooklyn Invaded Paris—Next Stop, the World|Brandon Presser|October 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Detroiters, now erecting a Robocop statue as a half-joking, half-serious morale boost, may want to consider bronzing Mulally next.
The CEO Hail Mary: A Scorecard on Corporate Change Agents|Nick Summers|March 1, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The half-joking quip was reported around the world as if it were a call for divine providence.
Inside Holbrooke's War With the White House|The Daily Beast|January 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST

The old, half-joking maternal manner was all in earnest now.
Sisters|Kathleen Norris
My shipmate spoke with deep feeling, though he had begun in a half-joking vein.
Marmaduke Merry|William H. G. Kingston
She had been puzzled at first by his manner of treating everything with a half-joking pessimism, but now ignored it.
The Runaway Skyscraper|Murray Leinster
"All correct, sir," said Sonny laughingly, and with a half-joking salute.
Air Men o' War|Boyd Cable
She liked Muriel, she decided, but she did not altogether understand her half-cordial, half-joking manner.
Marjorie Dean High School Freshman|Pauline Lester

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