as in laughing
to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound
audiences might chortle gently during the movie's amusing bits, but there are few knee-slappers
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Recent Examples of chortling
Regime leaders must be chortling over their surprising and unearned new international legitimacy.
—
Daniel B. Shapiro,
The Atlantic,
17 June 2026
The nightingale flew around the fox’s head, the two of them chortling in their own indiscernible ways.
—
Hazlitt,
19 Nov. 2025
Against all of this allegedly heady stuff, the score—by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—intentionally jars us from encroaching drowsiness with chortling woodwinds and shardlike piano chords that are the aural equivalent of jagged Plexiglass off-cuts.
—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Aug. 2025
Daniel B. Shapiro,
The Atlantic,
17 June 2026
The nightingale flew around the fox’s head, the two of them chortling in their own indiscernible ways.
—
Hazlitt,
19 Nov. 2025
Against all of this allegedly heady stuff, the score—by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—intentionally jars us from encroaching drowsiness with chortling woodwinds and shardlike piano chords that are the aural equivalent of jagged Plexiglass off-cuts.
—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chortling
Verb
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Cameras later caught Cunningham laughing as Bonner's meltdown escalated, and both players were hit with technical fouls.
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Gates recalled laughing at his thriftiness—but for the hedge fund mogul, every penny counts.
Verb
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Humans and great apes have been giggling in similar ways since branching off the evolutionary tree, a new study suggests.
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The two brothers were spotted giggling during a ceremonial carriage ride.
Verb
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And The Rest Is Football(Netflix, YouTube) is the latest podcast to make the leap to the small screen, with former England internationals Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and the ever-chuckling Micah Richards serving up a daily helping of World Cup analysis alongside the usual chummy banter.
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Baffert watched it all on his laptop from California, chuckling as the board showing the horse’s price flaked out momentarily.
Verb
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An open 911 line allowed dispatchers to hear gunshots and people screaming inside the building.
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But doing grand openings and screaming out loud doesn't resonate with the brand.
Cite this Entry
“Chortling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chortling. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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