as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
a chaffing tone to Dad's discussion of my sister's new boyfriend
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in teasing
to make fun of in a good-natured way
chaffed her about the brightly colored shirt she had received as a gift
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in funning
to make jokes
a coworker who likes to chaff at others' expense, and this often results in hurt feelings
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chaffing
Verb
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Bieber made his debut on Twitch yesterday with a stream that included footage of the singer playing basketball, shooting pool with friends and teasing his upcoming Coachella dates.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
23 Oct. 2025 -
Samsung’s first Galaxy XR headset is now official, but that hasn’t stopped the company teasing future AR products.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Mackey reached out to Warren Buffett, who declined, joking about the poor brand fit between his Dairy Queen ownership and his junk food preferences.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Altman wasn't joking about the price of politeness.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Just before Thursday’s taping Pence and Emanual met outside the greenroom, and each greeted each other warmly, quickly asking each other questions about their kids before anything else, while kidding with each other about a long unpaid bet.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
10 Oct. 2025
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Okay, kidding about that last part.—
Elizabeth Logan,
Glamour,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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As for any ribbing that his head coach gives him for being an old plodder back, Hammond laughed it off.—
Joe Davidson,
Sacbee.com,
19 Oct. 2025
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Hey, what’s some ribbing between besties whose job security has been national news?—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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To get a sense of his whole deal, look no further than the half-mocking, half-earnest title of his latest album, Country!—
Jonathan Bernstein,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Justine Lupe plays Joanne’s sarcastic best friend, sister, sometimes-advisor and podcast co-host Morgan Williams.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
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As a model named Carl, stuck in a relationship corrupted by microcelebrity and Instagram view counts, Dickinson ticks with exasperation and sarcastic logic, his jaw clenched, his eyes wide and staring.—
Carrie Battan,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In a YouTube video, the robot’s head glances around with a quizzical expression and blinks in a way that is eerily lifelike.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
22 Sep. 2025
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Louie is summoned to the apartment of Joe Black, a higher-up gangster played by John Malkovich with a manner so quizzical yet threatening that his voice just about quivers with unexpressed rage.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
3 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Chaffing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chaffing. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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