taunter

noun

Definition of taunternext
as in tease
a person who causes repeated emotional pain, distress, or annoyance to another he grew up to regret being a taunter in his youth, and shared his experience with his students

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for taunter
  1. tease
  2. harasser
  3. torturer
  4. tormentor
Noun
  • A number of Reeves’ social media teases have included glimpses of snow.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026
  • What begins as misjudgment, the official synopsis teases, spirals through human conflict into tragedy on a cosmic scale.
    — Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 9 July 2026
Definition of tease
Noun
  • There is just no defending that behavior, and the harasser/scumbag should walk the plank, so to speak.
    — Geoff Clark OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2026
  • Still, the star did not name her harassers.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 22 May 2026
Definition of harasser
Noun
  • Red is immediately abducted, cut open in an ambulance, and injected with pain-magnifying drugs by his torturers, while Liz accidentally murders the mysterious man surveilling her next door.
    — EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 25 June 2026
  • Aaron escapes his torturers, first by rooting himself in the town’s only movie theater open to Black people, and then by lying about his age and enlisting in the Navy at 16.
    — Meredith Maran, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
Definition of torturer
Noun
  • There’s Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), Carrie’s chief tormentor at public school — the one who famously pours pig’s blood on the girl at prom.
    — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 13 July 2026
  • Lionel Messi is an all-timer (not to mention a frequent Atlanta United tormentor) and, at 39 years old, this may be his last World Cup.
    — Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 13 July 2026
Definition of tormentor
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

taunted
taunter
taunters
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Taunter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/taunter. Accessed 23 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of maverick

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
thumbnail graphic with text word of the day quiz
Weekly "Word of the Day" Quiz See how well you know each Word of the Day for Ju...
See All