titter
Americanverb (used without object)
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titters,
present (3rd person singular)
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tittered,
past participle, past
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tittering
present participle
noun
verb
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(intr) to snigger, esp derisively or in a suppressed way
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(tr) to express by tittering
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tittersimple
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titterssimple
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have titteredperfect
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has titteredperfect
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am titteringprogressive
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are titteringprogressive
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is titteringprogressive
-
have been titteringperfect progressive
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has been titteringperfect progressive
Past
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titteredsimple
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had titteredperfect
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was titteringprogressive
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were titteringprogressive
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had been titteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of titter
1610–20; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse tittra to quiver, Swedish (dial.) tittra to giggle
Explanation
A titter is an awkward laugh at something that you shouldn’t be laughing at, like during dinner when Uncle Marvin makes a joke about your mother’s new hairstyle. If you try to hide your laugh, it’s probably a titter. A laugh that you can’t keep in but also can’t let out, that’s a titter. It usually happens in situations where you shouldn’t be laughing, like listening to your English teacher talk about a date he went on the night before, or when someone tells you a joke in a library. A titter is kinder than a snicker, less noticeable than a giggle, quieter than a chuckle, and way less fun than a chortle. Life’s a joke, laugh it up!
Vocabulary lists containing titter
Instead of "Said": Words for Upbeat Banter
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Gene Wilder (1933-2016) Tribute List
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The Lions of Little Rock
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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:
A recognizable screen star, Gambon went out not with a Broadway bang but with a sly Beckettian titter, committed as always to the work rather than his celebrity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
The score, by Amelia Warner, announces when to titter and when to swoon.
From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2022
But titter not, lest you be tittered, it’s back tomorrow and the cold turkey will be brief.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 5, 2021
By the time the first half of the film had been unfolded yesterday the spectators were beginning to titter gently.
From Slate ● Dec. 31, 2019
A titter of audience appreciation came from the couch.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
Tanden can reflexively rattle off the particularities of housing protocols I couldn’t begin to decode; she titters with satisfaction upon recounting the intricacies of a long-discarded Australian cap-and-trade proposal.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
The pair took a beat through bubbling titters from the audience before knowingly yelling, “Happy Pride everyone!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
The upper keys were pressed to combine different types of laughter, from titters to belly laughs, and the foot pedals controlled the timing and duration of the laughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
The titters remained even after Smith shouted for Rock to keep Jada Pinkett Smith’s name out of his mouth.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2023
"An' ain't a farmer's wife in the house," the voice called through the titters of bitter laughter.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
The point was that Bush lacked “moral courage,” Mr. Trudeau explained defensively, though more than a few readers must have tittered at the cruelty of his word choice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
At first the audience tittered, then chuckled, then laughed out loud.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2022
The audience tittered, uncertain if his panic was a bit.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2022
But titter not, lest you be tittered, it’s back tomorrow and the cold turkey will be brief.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 5, 2021
"Now there's a weasel clever as a goat!" the fool tittered.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
SAN FRANCISCO—Alex Sorenson and Lizzie Silvers were about to tie the knot at an outdoor ceremony when a group of tipsy young men stumbled in out of the gloom, tittering at discovering nuptials in progress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Miller’s apparent faux pas briefly brought tittering over a practical solution back into vogue.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2022
Newspaper accounts of the trial suggest a rollicking scene, the full-house crowd tittering when one of the lawyers recited the poem’s contentious passages.
From Slate ● Feb. 23, 2021
If “The Thanksgiving Play” could see its characters as more than the butt of punchlines, the skewering of cultural mindsets might provoke more collective soul-searching than tired tittering.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2019
Tiny microsaurs scattered in the shadows, tittering with alarm as she passed.
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
