- present participle of joke.
joking
IdiomsExplanation
You can describe something that's funny, lighthearted, or flippant as joking. A joking manner can be a good quality in a kids' dentist and a not-so-good quality in a funeral director. A joking birthday card might tease the recipient about his advanced age, and a joking tone in an interviewer's voice keeps the mood light and playful. When you're in a joking mood, you're full of good humor. At the heart of the adjective joking is joke, originally joque, from the Latin iocus, "joke, sport, or pastime."
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.
In baseball, curses are no joking matter, and the Curse of the FTD Burger might now have befallen the team.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2026
Mr. Rogen balances the joking and the despair like the great comic actors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
He said this in a joking, busting-his-chops way.
From Slate • Jun. 19, 2026
"I mean, I think the president was joking, as he often does," Vance said when asked if he feared that Trump would make him the fall guy.
From Barron's • Jun. 18, 2026
The merchant had said those very words, joking.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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.
