tease

[ teez ]

verb (used with object)

, teased, teas·ing.

1. to irritate or provoke with persistent petty distractions, trifling jests, or other annoyances, often in a playful way:

   If your little sister is teasing you about your boyfriend and following you around making kissy faces, it’s because she’s jealous and wants your attention.

   Synonyms: annoy, vex, disturb, trouble

   Antonyms: mollify

2. to bully, harass, or torment:

   I was teased about my lisp when I was younger.

   New animals are kept isolated when they first arrive at the sanctuary to prevent the established pack from teasing or frightening them.

3. to purposely excite or sexually arouse (someone) without subsequent gratification:

   Don’t tease me with vacation ideas you know we can’t afford!

   She teased her fiancé with a sexy little dance even though she knew they couldn’t go all the way with a house full of guests.

4. to pull apart or separate the adhering fibers of (wool or the like), as in combing or carding; comb or card, as wool; shred.
5. to ruffle (the hair) by holding it at the ends and combing toward the scalp so as to give body to a hairdo.
6. to raise a nap on (cloth) with teasels; teasel.
7. to introduce (a new product) without revealing details about it, conveying only that the product exists and will be available at a future date:

   Both developers teased next generation game consoles at the expo, but neither released specs.

verb (used without object)

, teased, teas·ing.

1. to provoke, disturb, torment, or bully a person or animal with persistent annoyances or harassment.

noun

1. a person who teases or annoys.
2. a person who purposely excites or sexually arouses another, but then withholds gratification: All I did was set some sexual boundaries, but now he's spreading rumors that I'm a tease.

   The weatherman needs to stop being such a tease with these predicted snow days.

   All I did was set some sexual boundaries, but now he's spreading rumors that I'm a tease.

3. the act of teasing or the state of being teased.
4. Television. teaser ( def 3a ).

verb phrase

1. to discover, understand, or disentangle (complex, interconnected, or hidden information):

   Only recently have scientists teased out a causal link between sleep loss and mood disorders, like anxiety.

tease

/ tiːz /

verb

1. to annoy (someone) by deliberately offering something with the intention of delaying or withdrawing the offer
2. to arouse sexual desire in (someone) with no intention of satisfying it
3. to vex (someone) maliciously or playfully, esp by ridicule
4. tr to separate the fibres of; comb; card
5. tr to raise the nap of (a fabric) with a teasel
6. Alsobackcomb to comb the under layers of (the hair) towards the roots to give more bulk to a hairstyle
7. tr to loosen or pull apart (biological tissues, etc) by delicate agitation or prodding with an instrument

noun

1. a person or thing that teases
2. the act of teasing

Derived Forms

• ˈteasingly, adverb
• ˈteasing, adjective

Other Words From

• teas·a·ble adjective
• teas·a·ble·ness noun
• out·tease verb (used with object) outteased outteasing
• un·teased adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tease¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English verb tese(n), teise, Old English tǣsan “to pull, tear, comb”; cognate with Middle Low German tesen, Old High German zeisan “to pluck”; the noun is derivative of the verb

Word History and Origins

Origin of tease¹

Old English tǣsan; related to Old High German zeisan to pick

Synonym Study

See bother.

Example Sentences

At the time, they were a tease, revealing little detail about their “incredibly exciting” method that matched experimental results in accuracy.

From Singularity Hub 

It is this giant tease, as though someone built Carnegie Hall but forgot to put doors on it.

From Washington Post

That’s the tantalizing tease Malcolm Gladwell drops in his Revisionist History podcast episode on memory … and how it failed the NBC News anchor in the worst possible way.

From Ozy

Greenhouse tomatoes are ever-present — they’re a tease, often watery and dull.

From Washington Post

Flood said Emrick will have a limited role with NBC and will provide the voice-over for the opening tease on Wednesday night’s telecast.

From Washington Post

He proceeds to tease me, asking if our interview is “secretly a date?”

From The Daily Beast

His youngest son, Orange Scott, was a rough-and-tumble trickster and a terrible tease.

From The Daily Beast

The sexual acts are mysterious, unpredictable, and passionate; they tease your senses.

From The Daily Beast

We were about to go to sleep, but I decided to tease him about his weird habit of having the pillow a certain way on the bed.

From The Daily Beast

Journalism assumes an immutable truth, that a few more calls, a bit more reporting will tease it out of reluctant informants.

From The Daily Beast

Osmond Orgreave entered the room, quizzical, and at once began to tease Clayhanger about the infrequency of his visits.

From Project Gutenberg

The moment we arrive at the house the others begin to tease us and leave us together.

From Project Gutenberg

The two engineers, being idle, had drunk liquor and were trying to tease the animals nearby.

From Project Gutenberg

She told us children never to tease him, or worry him, but that we needn't be afraid of him, either.

From Project Gutenberg

Dont tease me, she said, so quietly that an embarrassing silence fell between them.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• annoy
• badger
• bother
• harass
• mock
• needle
• nudge
• pester
• pick on
• ridicule
• tantalize
• taunt
• torment