as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
made kidding remarks about her lack of skills in the kitchen
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in fooling
Related Words
1
as in teasing
to make fun of in a good-natured way
everybody's kidding me about my new haircut
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in jesting
to make jokes
he always kids around about his "wild and crazy" life as an accountant
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of kidding
Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 22 Jan. 2026
Just kidding, Kim’s is a real and rational response, but Natalie is not having it.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
While fictional, Joel’s compassion and care can’t help but feel like counterprogramming to the cynical everyday horrors of violent deportations, open bigotry from leading politicians, measles outbreaks and the return of whole milk (kidding!
—Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
Just kidding, that’s next Sunday.
—Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
On New Year's Eve, the weather was a balmy (kidding) 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and after spending hours braving the cold, peeling off our wet socks and stepping onto the warm wooden floors was pure heaven.
—Kayla Brock, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Jan. 2025
Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 11 Feb. 2026
Literally toxic lesbians — kidding.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Just kidding - but honestly not sold on him being the best player on a championship caliber team.
—The Athletic Nba Staff, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2025
The Aggies coach wasn’t kidding.
—Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Just before Thursday’s taping Pence and Emanual met outside the greenroom, and each greeted each other warmly, quickly asking each other questions about their kids before anything else, while kidding with each other about a long unpaid bet.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
Okay, kidding about that last part.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 7 Oct. 2025
Pat Kelsey wasn't kidding about wanting the smoke.
—Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 2 Sep. 2025
In 2019, Lebanese depositors discovered that their banking system had, in effect, just been kidding about those savings accounts.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025
Noun
Here’s what winning a National Championship taught me about B2B sales 🏆 (kidding…kinda) 1.
—Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 22 Jan. 2026
Just kidding, Kim’s is a real and rational response, but Natalie is not having it.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2025
While fictional, Joel’s compassion and care can’t help but feel like counterprogramming to the cynical everyday horrors of violent deportations, open bigotry from leading politicians, measles outbreaks and the return of whole milk (kidding!
—Leah Asmelash, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
Just kidding, that’s next Sunday.
—Alex Kirshner, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
On New Year's Eve, the weather was a balmy (kidding) 25 degrees Fahrenheit, and after spending hours braving the cold, peeling off our wet socks and stepping onto the warm wooden floors was pure heaven.
—Kayla Brock, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Jan. 2025
Verb
There are also cool maps on the local prevalence of certain health conditions, from arthritis and asthma to cancer and high cholesterol to diabetes and depression to — not kidding here — where people have lost all their teeth.
—Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 11 Feb. 2026
Literally toxic lesbians — kidding.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Just kidding - but honestly not sold on him being the best player on a championship caliber team.
—The Athletic Nba Staff, New York Times, 30 Oct. 2025
The Aggies coach wasn’t kidding.
—Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 25 Oct. 2025
Just before Thursday’s taping Pence and Emanual met outside the greenroom, and each greeted each other warmly, quickly asking each other questions about their kids before anything else, while kidding with each other about a long unpaid bet.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025
Okay, kidding about that last part.
—Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 7 Oct. 2025
Pat Kelsey wasn't kidding about wanting the smoke.
—Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 2 Sep. 2025
In 2019, Lebanese depositors discovered that their banking system had, in effect, just been kidding about those savings accounts.
—Graeme Wood, The Atlantic, 2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for kidding
Verb
-
Group chat logs obtained by the Miami New Times in 2018 showed TPUSA chapter members joking about rape.—
Claire Heddles,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Always entertaining and joking with those around him, the outspoken American has taken on a showman personality at the Games.—
Tales Azzoni,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Strip Law is a show that prefers to keep everything very close to the surface, including its case-of-the-week mocking of how surface-level Las Vegas is — even if roughly half those cases don’t have much to do with Vegas at all.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Feb. 2026
-
In his verse, Bad Bunny directly addresses the chats, calling attention to Rosselló’s mocking of the dead from Hurricane María and his rampant homophobia.—
Julyssa Lopez,
Rolling Stone,
26 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Fans are convinced Musgraves is teasing a new album, which her fanbase has dubbed KM6.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Netflix is dishing out a second serving of A24‘s Beef, teasing a first look at the sophomore season of Lee Sung Jin‘s anthology.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In Entertainment Weekly's exclusive first look at Daniels' first appearance in the Apple TV comedy, Jimmy and Randy sit at the dinner table, where Jimmy is served a healthy helping of parental ribbing.—
Ashley Boucher,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Feb. 2026
-
The friendly ribbing is rooted in respect.—
Dane Mizutani,
Twin Cities,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The result is chaos, and a few too many jokes about young people not knowing how to work a fax machine or manage paper.—
Culture Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
The meta joke is that Radcliffe was a pioneer of acting opposite tennis balls.—
Eliana Dockterman,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
His razzing of The Problem With Jon Stewart was the best grace note on the piece.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
12 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Kidding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/kidding. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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