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
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
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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The former couple did spend the 2025 holiday season together, with Slater taking to his own Instagram Stories in December to share rare photos of the pop star cuddling with a dog and laughing at a private gathering.—
Bailey Bujnosek,
InStyle,
9 June 2026
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The world is laughing at our inability to count votes in a timely manner.—
Juhi Doshi,
ABC News,
9 June 2026
Verb
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Flashlight tag is an oldie but goodie and will have parents giggling like schoolgirls along with their kids.—
Orlando Sentinel Staff,
The Orlando Sentinel,
24 May 2026
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Total strangers giggling about his addiction to drugs.—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 May 2026
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.—
Jon O'Brien,
Vulture,
10 June 2026
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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.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
1 May 2026
Verb
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As if each of us isn’t a walking embodiment of our moment, clueless and attuned at once, screaming about one thing and in total denial about another.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
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There were the arrests of tearful and screaming immigrants, captured on video and played on endless loops across social media.—
Moriah Balingit,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Chortling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chortling. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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