jest

1 an attitude or manner not to be taken seriously you should know that our teasing was done entirely in jest Synonyms game, fun, play, sportRelated Words facetiousness, flightiness, flippancy, frivolity, frivolousness, frothiness, levity, light-mindedness, sillinessNear Antonyms earnestness, gravity, seriousness, soberness, sobriety, solemnityAntonyms earnest

2 something said or done to cause laughter laughed politely at his feeble jest about his pet mosquito Synonyms boff (or boffo), boffola, crack, drollery, funny, gag, giggle [chiefly British], jape, joke, josh, laugh, nifty, one-liner, pleasantry, quip, rib, sally, waggery, wisecrack, witticism, yuk (or yuck also yak or yock) [slang]Related Words funning, joking, wisecracking; knee-slapper, panic [slang], riot, scream, thigh-slapper; antic, buffoonery, caper, leg-pull, monkeyshine(s), practical joke, prank, trick; burlesque, caricature, lampoon, mock, mockery, parody, put-on, riff; banter, kidding, persiflage, raillery, repartee; drollness, facetiousness, funniness, hilariousness, humorousness; comedy, humor, wit, wordplay

3 a playful or mischievous act intended as a joke putting a mouse in her desk drawer was intended to be a harmless jest Synonyms antic, caper, capriccio, dido, escapade, frolic, gag, prank, knavery, monkeyshine(s), practical joke, rag [chiefly British], roguery, shavie [Scottish], shine(s), trick, waggeryRelated Words skylarking; adventure, experience, game, lark, time; high jinks (also hijinks), horseplay, play, roughhousing, rowdyism; shenanigan(s), tomfoolery; joking, kidding, teasing; gambit, hoax, maneuver, ploy; deed, feat, mission, performance, stunt; caprice, conceit, fancy, vagary, whim, whimsy (also whimsey); deceit, deception, delusion, fooling, fraud, hanky-panky, hoodwinking, ruse, sham, stratagem, subterfuge, trickery, wile

4 a person or thing that is made fun of his outlandish costumes made him the jest of the town Synonyms butt, derision, laughingstock, joke, mark, mock, mockery, sport, targetRelated Words chump, dupe, fall guy, fool, gull, monkey, pigeon, sap, sucker, victimNear Antonyms darling, favorite, pet

to make jokes when I asked my sister for a loan, she laughingly replied, “Surely you jest!” Synonyms banter, chaff, fool, fun, gag, jape, joke, jive, jolly, josh, kid, quip, wisecrack, yuk (or yuck) [slang]Related Words gibe (or jibe), haze, jeer, mock, rag, rally, razz, rib, ridicule, tease; caricature, lampoon, parody, satirize; amuse, divert, entertain