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.
When she floated the idea that AI might solve it one day, the suggestion was so preposterous that he thought she was joking.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
He was something exciting and fresh when he pantsed the pop culture landscape in the late 1990s, but joking about how much everything sucks is a young man’s game.
From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2026
When Miller saw a comment from actor Antonio Cipriano, saying he "needed this song", he sent him a message suggesting he feature on a recording – then "panicked" and added "haha, joking".
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
She later posted a photograph with her doppelganger, joking that the resemblance was "pure coincidence, not strategy".
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
Nobody else knew how to react, and they basically looked at each other like, Is she serious or joking?!
From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
