teasing
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Harassing someone playfully or maliciously.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
teezingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtizɪŋ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously (especially by ridicule); provoking someone with persistent annoyances
The act of removing tangles from you hair with a comb
adjective
Playfully vexing, especially by ridicule.
Causing irritation or annoyance.
Arousing sexual desire without intending to satisfy it.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously (especially by ridicule); provoking someone with persistent annoyances
Used this way, teasing is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. Keep it for friendly, informal settings.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Playful and informal
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use teasing
- “The parody was just a form of teasing.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- teaseverb
- harassmentnoun
- flirtingnoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.