as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
a joshing response to my earnest question
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in joke
good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks
for all his joshing, he can be very serious when he needs to be
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in kidding
to make fun of in a good-natured way
don't get all hot and bothered! I'm just joshing you
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in jesting
to make jokes
a very outgoing man who joshes with everyone he meets
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of joshing
H. Alan Scott, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
Noun
The humorous joshing and teasing that came out of their initial love just gets worse and worse.
—H. Alan Scott, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for joshing
Noun
-
Though the movie is accessible to new fans, there are plenty of winks and nods for diehards who can understand what might seem, to the uninitiated, like cheesy moments—a cringeworthy English rap verse, a scene parodying the product placement in K-dramas—as self-aware jokes.—
Yvonne Kim,
The Atlantic,
12 Sep. 2025
-
That means having to cut jokes that don't fit his do-no-harm MO.—
Erin Jensen,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Pat Kelsey wasn't kidding about wanting the smoke.—
Leo Bertucci,
The Courier-Journal,
2 Sep. 2025
-
In 2019, Lebanese depositors discovered that their banking system had, in effect, just been kidding about those savings accounts.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Harry brought his trademark humor and warmth to the awards, a ceremony honoring seriously ill children who have shown incredible courage, joking and making smiles all around.—
Erin Hill,
People.com,
9 Sep. 2025
-
The pair let the news spread for a few moments -- then Stern jumped on to clarify that Cohen had been joking.—
Ahmad Hemingway,
ABC News,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
What captured millions of TikTok users' hearts was the pure joy that can be heard in her son’s laughs as her husband shields him from the rain.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
14 Sep. 2025
-
The ratio of laughs to drama changes quite sharply, however, as Joan takes her hostages off on their journey, leading to a bond with Tyler and a lot of unexpected revelations about Joan’s background.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Spotify has been teasing the high-fidelity format for years.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
10 Sep. 2025
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On Instagram, Alcaraz — who defeated Jannik Sinner in four sets to win his second title at the prestigious tournament held in New York — shared a carousel of images, teasing the process of his hairstyle switch-up.—
Skyler Caruso,
PEOPLE,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Riffing, or lighthearted banter, is a special way of co-creating meaning in your relationship.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Daniel is virtually beaming at his kid as the two of them casually banter.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The action flows, the badinage is fast and fun.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
28 Aug. 2025
-
Each bus has a pair of hosts, whose badinage is corny but crowd-pleasing.—
Patricia Marx,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
Noun
-
At one point, O’Steen was confused by a question, and the resulting back-and-forth was reminiscent of an Abbott and Costello repartee.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 Sep. 2025
-
But mainly the kids banter in pig Latin or in a screwball repartee fashioned from overheard adult speech.—
Dan Chiasson,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Joshing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/joshing. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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