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.
“We’re not going to allow it to go back out again,” library manager Michelle Hudson said, joking that staff did not want to wait another 150 years for its next return.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
The book, expanded from what he wrote for them, includes his training, pending divorce, joking asides and playing for high stakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Comedian Jenny Johnson poked fun at her cool demeanour on Instagram, external joking that her "energy is electric".
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
The next morning, everyone is joking and chatting as they submit their final choices to Yoo by text.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
I can tell she's joking, but sleep doesn't come easily as I lie all alone beneath the tree.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
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.
