as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
the lightly ribbing tone tipped me off that this wasn't a serious reprimand
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in mocking
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in teasing
to make fun of in a good-natured way
ribbed him a bit about fumbling such an easy play
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ribbing
Brett Samuels, The Hill, 17 Mar. 2025
The camera then cut to Gascón, who took the ribbing in stride.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 3 Mar. 2025
All four players had fond memories of the tournament, with Dostál offering a bit of good-natured ribbing toward Pastrnak and recalling not only his triumph of 2024 but his first experience in 2022, when his tournament was truncated by an injury.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 25 Mar. 2025
Trump’s playful and public ribbing of one of the world’s most prominent media moguls underscored the years-long on-again, off-again relationship between the president and publishing tycoon, one that political and media observers told The Hill this week has reached a critical new stage.
—Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 9 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ribbing
Noun
But aside from the occasional ribbing, Trump has generally praised Musk and embraced their working relationship.
—Brett Samuels, The Hill, 17 Mar. 2025
The camera then cut to Gascón, who took the ribbing in stride.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 3 Mar. 2025
All four players had fond memories of the tournament, with Dostál offering a bit of good-natured ribbing toward Pastrnak and recalling not only his triumph of 2024 but his first experience in 2022, when his tournament was truncated by an injury.
—Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 25 Mar. 2025
Trump’s playful and public ribbing of one of the world’s most prominent media moguls underscored the years-long on-again, off-again relationship between the president and publishing tycoon, one that political and media observers told The Hill this week has reached a critical new stage.
—Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 9 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ribbing
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ribbing
Verb
-
Seinfeld was clearly teasing, but sure enough, several headlines reported it as gospel with perhaps a mention three paragraphs in that it was intended to be humorous.—
Jenelle Riley,
Variety,
6 Jan. 2025
-
Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk are teasing the third and final season of the Netflix series.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
5 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
For myself and many of my classmates, the four-story Forever 21 in Times Square was the most exciting part of our senior-class trip to New York City—not joking!—
Kaitlyn Tiffany,
The Atlantic,
18 Mar. 2025
-
And, everyone was joking about it behind his back.—
Todd Nordstrom,
Forbes,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
While the jeers towards Xhaka followed the midfielder, Arsenal’s captain at the time, retaliating to sarcastic cheers from the crowd at him being replaced in an October 2019 home match against Crystal Palace, those directed at Eboue were due to his performance.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
14 May 2025
-
His first half was littered with increasingly ridiculous highlights: a lefty hook over Isaiah Hartenstein, a potpourri of 3s with hands in his face, a sarcastic stare-down after his defender tried taking a charge, followed by a pass to himself off the backboard to simplify the finish.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
13 May 2025
Noun
-
While my use of wordplay is vast, there’s one that stands out.—
Elana Rabinowitz,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2025
-
That being said, the puzzles are rarely straightforward and often use homophones, wordplay and other techniques to challenge players.—
Mark Davis,
Newsweek,
15 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
There are some clever bits of humor thoughout th emovie, especially involving all the shenanigans of the French, but the Dane’s story ends on a decidedly dark note.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2025
-
Gunn has promised a return to sincerity, but this is still unmistakably his movie so expect dashes of bizarro humor amid the spectacle and a few lovable weirdos around the edges (including Supes’ flying dog Krypto).—
Greg Braxton,
Los Angeles Times,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
The Crocodile Hunter star died at age of 44 in 2006 when he was struck by a stingray barb off the coast of northern Australia.—
Escher Walcott,
People.com,
10 May 2025
-
For a long time, there was no hope of a reunion, and brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher traded vicious barbs in the press.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ribbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ribbing. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share