tease

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verb

ˈtēz

teased; teasing

Synonyms of tease next

transitive verb

: to make fun of : kid

: to disturb or annoy by persistent irritating or provoking especially in a petty or mischievous way

: to annoy with petty persistent requests : pester

also : to obtain by repeated coaxing

: to persuade to acquiesce especially by persistent small efforts : coax

: to manipulate or influence as if by teasing

: to comb (hair) by taking hold of a strand and pushing the short hairs toward the scalp with the comb

: to tantalize especially by arousing desire or curiosity often without intending to satisfy it

: to disentangle and lay parallel by combing or carding

tease wool

: teasel

: to tear in pieces

especially : to shred (a tissue or specimen) for microscopic examination

teasingly

ˈtē-ziŋ-lē

adverb

tease

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noun

: the act of teasing : the state of being teased

: one that teases

Choose the Right Synonym for tease

worry, annoy, harass, harry, plague, pester, tease mean to disturb or irritate by persistent acts.

worry implies an incessant goading or attacking that drives one to desperation.

pursued a policy of worrying the enemy

annoy implies disturbing one's composure or peace of mind by intrusion, interference, or petty attacks.

you're doing that just to annoy me

harass implies petty persecutions or burdensome demands that exhaust one's nervous or mental power.

harassed on all sides by creditors

harry may imply heavy oppression or maltreatment.

the strikers had been harried by thugs

plague implies a painful and persistent affliction.

plagued all her life by poverty

pester stresses the repetition of petty attacks.

constantly pestered with trivial complaints

tease suggests an attempt to break down one's resistance or rouse to wrath.

children teased the dog

Example Sentences

Verb He and his wife enjoy teasing each other about their different tastes in music. The other children teased her because she was wearing braces. He was always teased by his brother about being short. Oh, don't get so angry. I was just teasing! The boy's mother told him to stop teasing the dog. Noun a pretty girl who has the reputation of being a bit of a tease The lower rate is just a tease to attract new customers. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

After a season of mystery, wondering, and teasing, the show's sophomore year turned the heat up—and really depicted some of the cannibalism and generally deviant behavior that fans wondered about throughout Season 1. —

Evan Romano, Men's Health, 29 May 2023 Tops on Conroy’s agenda: naming the coach who’ll replace Darryl Sutter, with said replacement being the guy to tease that swagger back out of Huberdeau, who is about to start an eight-year deal that carries a whopping $10.5 million cap hit. —

Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 27 May 2023 After teasing that her 9-month-old baby boy's name would be revealed on The Kardashians, the 37-year-old revealed her son's name is Tatum! —

Angela Andaloro, Peoplemag, 25 May 2023 In the footage, Cruise's Ethan rides a motorcycle straight off a cliff before (hopefully) pulling his parachute, as well as trashing a speeding train — two of the adrenaline-junkie stunts previously teased for the movie. —

Clark Collis, EW.com, 17 May 2023 After teasing the album’s announcement in a series of cryptic clues, Swift confirmed the summer release during an Eras tour stop at Nashville's Nissan Stadium earlier this month. —

USA TODAY, 17 May 2023 Unbeknownst to fans at the time, Cyrus had also teased the video a few days prior to its release. —

Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 16 May 2023 But Pichai teased an even more powerful multi-modal generative A.I. foundation model that Google has in the works, called Gemini, several times in his keynote. —

Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 11 May 2023 The new trailer also teases a reunion for Jamie and his son, William — who was raised by his aunt Isobel and her husband Lord John Grey — on the battlefield. —

Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2023

Noun

The new clip teases all five episodes, starting with the most meta of the bunch: Joan Is Awful, starring Annie Murphy, about a woman who discovers her real life is the basis for a hit prestige TV drama. —

Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 31 May 2023 In other campaign news… A pre-announcement tease: Florida’s first lady, Casey DeSantis, tweeted a video teasing her husband, Gov. DeSantis’ presidential launch. —

Ben Kamisar, NBC News, 24 May 2023 The decision to wear the look may be something of a Met tease, as the collection was designed by Karl Lagerfeld, who will be honored at this year's event. —

Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 30 Apr. 2023 The official trailer teases discourse that goes deeper than your average injectable, like Kim sobbing into Khloé’s arms, presumably over the Kimye split. —

Vulture, 28 Apr. 2023 Here’s hoping Ruland delivers on his tease at the conclusion and conjures up a sequel. —

Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2023 The Grammy-winning duo are hard at work on their 10th studio album (set for release later this year), so fans can expect to hear at least a tease of new music during their heart-pumping, brain-melting set. —

Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 13 Apr. 2023 What’s even more odd is that Bliss had clearly been penciled in for an on-screen reunion with Bray Wyatt, with several teases that the two stars would once again be working together in some fashion. —

Blake Oestriecher, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2023 The less formal Lookout Lodge, a favorite among locals, offers tacos and chili in a bunker-like summit building that delivers what its name teases: stellar views. —

Lydia Price, Travel + Leisure, 4 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tease.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.