as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
made jesting comments about my need for serious fashion advice
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in joke
good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks
lots of laughter and elbow-nudging jesting at family reunions
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in bantering
to make jokes
when I asked my sister for a loan, she laughingly replied, "Surely you jest!"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jesting
Noun
-
Reddit users were quick to flood the post with excitement and jokes.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025 -
And being Canadian, people do joke about that.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Sanders, who has been at Colorado since 2022 after two seasons at Jackson State University, could be seen in his son’s YouTube video joking around with his family while laying in a hospital bed on Tuesday night.—
Sean Neumann,
PEOPLE,
8 Oct. 2025
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The TikTok video garnered numerous comments, with some who missed that Dom was joking and trolling the kid, and others praising him for staying in character.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
As a model named Carl, stuck in a relationship corrupted by microcelebrity and Instagram view counts, Dickinson ticks with exasperation and sarcastic logic, his jaw clenched, his eyes wide and staring.—
Carrie Battan,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Following the mother-daughter duo of Lorelai Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham, and Rory, played by Alexis Bledel, Gilmore Girls was perfectly made for millennials, packed with wistful romances, frustrating dramatic turns and just enough sarcastic jokes.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Rob Gibson, Easy Tiger CEO, says comedy is always a tough sell because people are worried about whether the laughs will land.—
Paul Chai,
Variety,
11 Oct. 2025
-
The script has eye rolling scenes mixed with laugh out loud moments.—
Bryan West,
Nashville Tennessean,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
With time, their caustic raillery transforms into sincere attachment.—
Charlie Tyson,
The Atlantic,
13 May 2021
-
French’s evocation of place, a rural way of life and overall creepiness are superb, as is the dialogue, a festival of Irish raillery and repartee.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
14 Oct. 2020
Noun
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Too much of the banter is sloppy and too many of her mistakes are avoidable.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
13 Oct. 2025
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This powerhouse of a cast makes sure the audience is kept laughing with their quick-witted banter and clever physical comedy.—
Rebecca Angel Baer,
Southern Living,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The action flows, the badinage is fast and fun.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
28 Aug. 2025
-
Each bus has a pair of hosts, whose badinage is corny but crowd-pleasing.—
Patricia Marx,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
Noun
-
No one is better built than Leavy, a crafty veteran sportswriter, for between-innings repartee, wry asides, and tossed-off ideas for improving her beloved sport—and maybe even keeping its ever-looming obsolescence at bay for another decade or three.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
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At one point, O’Steen was confused by a question, and the resulting back-and-forth was reminiscent of an Abbott and Costello repartee.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
12 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Jesting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jesting. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
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