chortled; chortling
ˈchȯrt-liŋ,
ˈchȯr-tᵊl-iŋ
1
: to sing or chant exultantly
he chortled in his joy—
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll2
: to laugh or chuckle especially when amused or pleased
She chortled with delight.
: to say or sing with a chortling intonation
"… nothing whatever to worry about," he chortled merrily.—Kevin Myers
Kevin Myers
plural chortles
: a laugh or chuckle expressing pleasure or amusement
a chortle of delight
I hear a catbird's bubbling notes, sounding like the bird is half strangling itself to get them out, the rapid-tonguing chortle of a red-bellied woodpecker …—John P. Wiley, Jr.
John P. Wiley, Jr.The grin escalates into a chuckle, the chuckle to a chortle.—Robert Palm
Robert PalmExamples of chortle in a Sentence
Verb
He chortled, “You're going to love this.”
audiences might chortle gently during the movie's amusing bits, but there are few knee-slappers
Noun
the joke provoked a sudden chortle from a bystander
Recent Examples on the Web
John Melloy,christopher Hayes, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2025
This will also make small-government types chortle over the notion that Trump is actually one of them.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
Dalton Ross, EW.com, 29 May 2025
And so the two men, wielding their mockery, make a show of each chortle and smirk.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for chortle
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.
Verb
Take a look at the other top 10 nonfinancial S & P 500 stocks by forward price-to-sales ratio: Calling all value investors (chortle): Nvidia trades at a relatively tame 15 forward price-to-sales ratio.
—John Melloy,christopher Hayes, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2025
This will also make small-government types chortle over the notion that Trump is actually one of them.
—U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
Noun
Yoda made a slight sound of dissatisfaction, a grumbling chortle.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 29 May 2025
And so the two men, wielding their mockery, make a show of each chortle and smirk.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for chortle
Cite this Entry
“Chortle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chortle. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
chortle
verb
chor·tle
ˈchȯrt-əl
chortled; chortling
ˈchȯrt-(ə-)liŋ
: to chuckle especially in satisfaction
chortle
noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share