tongue-in-cheek
CulturalExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“If you must join a movement,” he advises, tongue-in-cheek, “make sure there’s dancing.”
From Salon • Mar. 6, 2026
That's the conundrum at the heart of "The Moment," a tongue-in-cheek mockumentary starring Charli XCX as she grapples with her meteoric rise to fame and tries to prepare for a sell-out arena tour.
From Barron's • Jan. 24, 2026
But what transpired was a kind of tongue-in-cheek muscle-man competition that gave each of the men a solo excursion as if emulating the “talent portion” of such affairs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 20, 2026
Now that he owns both, Libow has declared himself, tongue-in-cheek, the “King of Storybook,” and said he intends to protect the property and be a spokesperson for the style.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 21, 2025
She gave me an A on the written report, saying she liked my tongue-in-cheek approach to criticism, but warned me to clean up the language and watch my run-on sentences.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
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.
