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
-
The Iron Man star then burst out laughing.—
Jack Smart,
PEOPLE,
20 May 2026
-
Alon responded with laughing emojis.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
Families with mothers in hijabs and giggling children sit alongside the neighborhood’s old guard and young transplants priced out of Brooklyn’s north, all feasting on great wheels of rashoosh (flatbread) and dishevelments of lamb.—
Ligaya Mishan,
New York Times,
11 May 2026
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On the chaise side of the sectional, Fiona and Izzy were giggling under a blanket, playing a makeover game on Fiona’s phone.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Verb
-
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
-
Flying cows, fiddle-playing cats, and chuckling retrievers inhabit the space between ornate columns.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Her father and cousin had come looking for her, and were screaming outside.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
19 May 2026
-
Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong let a rival fan have it during a heated, NSFW screaming match on Sunday, playing the White Sox.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Chortling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chortling. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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