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
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
Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chortling
Verb
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Makai was then breathing normally and laughing, but proceeded to throw up again, Rodriguez said.—
Megan Forrester,
ABC News,
22 Oct. 2025
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The Instagram post showed the group laughing and posing while shooting on a marsh outside Charleston.—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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DeGeneres and de Rossi can be heard giggling as their two dogs chase each other around the space.—
Natalia Senanayake,
PEOPLE,
21 Oct. 2025
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Beyond them, there are plenty of cases of mysterious footsteps, giggling invisible children and unexplained green orbs appearing in photos.—
Maggie Menderski,
Louisville Courier Journal,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Flacco spent most of his postgame interview chuckling about the unpredictable last 10 days that have landed him back in the NFL's spotlight in his 18th season.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
17 Oct. 2025
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During the team’s media day on Monday, Yang spoke some English but in mid-sentence would revert back to Chinese, producing a mix of English and Chinese that leaves the affable 7-footer chuckling at himself.—
Jason Quick,
New York Times,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Video captured officers screaming at him to drop the knife, followed by several gunshots from police.—
Christina Hall,
Freep.com,
23 Oct. 2025
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His new visions are shattered by an explosion of light and color as, beneath his fist, the green light blazes, the kyber crystal of the Jedi screaming in corruption and cowardice, in fear and loathing—the lies of the Jedi revealed at last.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chortling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chortling. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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