taunt
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
taunts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
taunted,
past participle, past
-
taunting
present participle
adjective
verb
-
to provoke or deride with mockery, contempt, or criticism
-
to tease; tantalize
noun
-
a jeering remark
-
archaic the object of mockery
adjective
Synonym Usage
See ridicule.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tauntsimple
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tauntssimple
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have tauntedperfect
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has tauntedperfect
-
am tauntingprogressive
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are tauntingprogressive
-
is tauntingprogressive
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have been tauntingperfect progressive
-
has been tauntingperfect progressive
Past
-
tauntedsimple
-
had tauntedperfect
-
was tauntingprogressive
-
were tauntingprogressive
-
had been tauntingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of taunt1
First recorded in 1505–15; origin uncertain
Origin of taunt2
First recorded in 1490–1500; origin uncertain
Explanation
A short list of people not to taunt: your big brother, nightclub bouncers, evil wizards. Taunts are insulting comments, and, unless you are a really, really fast runner, keep them to yourself. Taunting is often associated with large groups picking on an individual. A mob might call out a hated king from his castle with taunts and jeers. Bullying can also take the form of taunting — something that teachers, administrators, parents, and students are working together to stop.
Vocabulary lists containing taunt
List 4
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The Crossover
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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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.
See Examples For:
Madalon refused to see the old hardware as a taunt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Not only did Clark’s team go on to win, the taunt — much like a number of other moments involving the sharpshooting former Hawkeye — went viral.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026
The residents cheer and taunt and follow from a safe distance.
From Slate ● Feb. 11, 2026
One thing's for sure: "You Can't See Me" might be the taunt Cena gives Gunther, but the last fight will be seen and remembered by many.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Pacing, she felt as though her life had chased her down a dead-end corridor and trapped her there to taunt her.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
One of the most famous episodes in Homer’s poem finds Odysseus and his men facing the Cyclops Polyphemus in his cave, where their struggle becomes a battle of wits: lies, taunts, a drunken ruse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Winter Miller, a playwright and children’s book author based in Brooklyn, taunts her deceivers in the name of getting people to laugh.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
“Melania” taunts the viewer and takes glee in the assumption that they can’t do anything about it.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2026
Nothing compared to the misery of Johnson, whose game fell apart to a soundtrack of taunts from the Barmy Army.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025
I tell myself that if I let the taunts roll off me, he will lose interest.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
That’s why Ham is swift to insist he’s being taunted, even when he’s not.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
Ronda Rousey and Jake Paul have taunted the UFC and Dana White for failing to break Most Valuable Promotions' MMA record audience figure with the White House event last week.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
The woman alleged that Jackson repeatedly refused to delete the video and then taunted her with it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
The few protesters taunted the agents, who mostly amused themselves.
From Slate ● May 29, 2026
“What kind of a woman—what kind of a mother—doesn’t answer even when her own children call out to her?” the judge taunted over the loud, booming mike.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Neither incidents involved taunting players from the opposing team, and both of those techs have reportedly been rescinded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
Paul has a history of taunting UFC president White, and the MVP-promoted Rousey v Carano event was positioned as a "takeover" of MMA by boxer Paul.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
Sean Duffy is even taunting Pete Buttigieg about it, in a bout of dreaded intra–transportation secretary violence.
From Slate ● May 5, 2026
But the phantoms of the past remain, haunting our dreams and taunting us with the comfort of imagined reconciliation, until we wake up and it slips away.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
The children carried on at full volume, a cacophony of shouting and taunting and weeping.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
