- present participle of tease.
teasing
Americannoun
-
the act of persistently annoying someone, especially playfully and with silly jokes about them.
Most holidays, we all manage to squeeze in at Grandma’s and enjoy a crazy day full of laughter, teasing, eating, and sharing.
-
the act of bullying, harassing, or tormenting someone.
Many students with learning disabilities suffer the frustration of low achievement and the teasing and poor self-image that come with it.
-
the act of purposely exciting, tantalizing, or sexually arousing someone without providing subsequent gratification.
She smiled over her shoulder at him, brown eyes shiny with teasing.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of teasing
First recorded in 1585–95; teas(e) ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses; teas(e) ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective sense
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:
Jamuna Paar - literally "across the Yamuna" - is shorthand for the city's eastern neighbourhoods and the subject of endless teasing over their neglected civic infrastructure.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The trailer also offers a glimpse into Sally and Gillian’s present lives — with the latter teasing the former’s apparent lack of love life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, attending the summit as a guest, could not resist teasing Macron, an avowed fan of PSG's bitter southern rivals Olympique de Marseille.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Mr. Ghosh generates suspense by teasing out the history of this past life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
“You were always the bad one. Making faces at me behind your mother’s back, teasing and tormenting me, stealing my things. Why, you have my bear right now. Give him to me!”
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
But her teasings – like her reminders of Jennifer Lawrence’s struggles with the forces of gravity — were generally light and pleasantly show-bizzy.
From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2014
Dr. Aicadre accepts his invalidism with bitter fatalism; the only things that are insupportable are the teasings of Madame Teterger's idiot son, who hates him. and the starvation rations given to his pet dog Bobbee.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was these teasings of her brother that gave me my first inkling that the old ranchero was a wily matchmaker, though he religiously denied every such accusation.
From A Texas Matchmaker by Adams, Andy
I believe that after living awhile with men, we perceive that bickerings, ill-humours, teasings on trifles, perhaps cause more troubles and divisions among them than serious things.
From Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3) Turgot by Morley, John
But when school life began and they became exposed to the twits and teasings of their playmates there developed a shy timidity and reserve when in the presence of others.
From A Preliminary Study of the Emotion of Love between the Sexes by Bell, Sanford
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.
