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
Demetrios Matheou, HollywoodReporter, 22 Nov. 2025
Cheryl — who jumped in the mosh pit briefly at the first party — hung out in the back, sitting on her walker and gently joshing Erika’s young son for wearing earplugs while a singer screamed into the microphone.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 13 Nov. 2025
Noun
The humorous joshing and teasing that came out of their initial love just gets worse and worse.
—Verb
Cranston and Essiedu convey a father-son bond of unusual closeness — hugging, play-fighting, joshing; but this physical proximity will be repeated at the end of the play to devastatingly different effect.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for joshing
Noun
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If that means being the frequent butt of jokes for his age, that's fine, too.—
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Try to ski with a friend, who might distract me with a story or a joke.—
Verb
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Literally toxic lesbians — kidding.—
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Just kidding - but honestly not sold on him being the best player on a championship caliber team.—
Verb
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Turn around and make a lighthearted comment to the person behind you, maybe joking about the wait time, Simon-Thomas suggests.—
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Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone exchanged texts on the morning the Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced this week, joking about the outcome after Stone landed a nod and Lawrence did not.—
Noun
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The Spartans got the last laugh for now, too, taking both games.—
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Katz said, feigning familiarity with the leader’s influence and drawing laughs from the audience.—
Verb
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Viewers see painful flashbacks throughout the show of classmates teasing Kelly about being overweight and daring her to drink urine.—
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On Wednesday, Duff ramped up the anticipation for her new album, teasing a new song about dive bar hookups, inconvenient roommates, and a once-red-hot romance fizzling into the tombs of relationship graveyards.—
Noun
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Jennifer Aniston's social media followers were treated to some banter between the Friends alum and her costar Courteney Cox — not as Rachel and Monica, but themselves.—
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Alana and Danielle rush towards the dresses and pose beside them, before kicking off the sisterly banter that is a constant throughout the fitting.—
Noun
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Language There’s some crude language, jesting, and mature comedic themes, but but nothing the modern tween or teen hasn’t seen or heard before.—
Noun
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The action flows, the badinage is fast and fun.—
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Each bus has a pair of hosts, whose badinage is corny but crowd-pleasing.—
Cite this Entry
“Joshing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/joshing. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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