| English Dictionary |
TEASING
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| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does teasing mean?
• TEASING (noun)
The noun TEASING has 3 senses:
1. the act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously (especially by ridicule); provoking someone with persistent annoyances
2. playful vexation
3. the act of removing tangles from you hair with a comb
Familiarity information: TEASING used as a noun is uncommon.
• TEASING (adjective)
The adjective TEASING has 3 senses:
1. playfully vexing (especially by ridicule)
2. arousing sexual desire without intending to satisfy it
3. causing irritation or annoyance
Familiarity information: TEASING used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously (especially by ridicule); provoking someone with persistent annoyances
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
ribbing; tantalization; tease; teasing
Context example:
his ribbing was gentle but persistent
Hypernyms ("teasing" is a kind of...):
harassment; molestation (the act of tormenting by continued persistent attacks and criticism)
Derivation:
tease (harass with persistent criticism or carping)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Playful vexation
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Context example:
the parody was just a form of teasing
Hypernyms ("teasing" is a kind of...):
caper; frolic; gambol; play; romp (gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The act of removing tangles from you hair with a comb
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
comb-out; teasing
Hypernyms ("teasing" is a kind of...):
comb; combing (the act of drawing a comb through hair)
Derivation:
tease (ruffle (one's hair) by combing the ends towards the scalp, for a full effect)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Playfully vexing (especially by ridicule)
Synonyms:
Context example:
his face wore a somewhat quizzical almost impertinent air
Similar:
playful (full of fun and high spirits)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Arousing sexual desire without intending to satisfy it
Context example:
her lazy teasing smile
Similar:
seductive (tending to entice into a desired action or state)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Causing irritation or annoyance
Synonyms:
annoying; bothersome; galling; irritating; nettlesome; pesky; pestering; pestiferous; plaguey; plaguy; teasing; vexatious; vexing
Context example:
it is vexing to have to admit you are wrong
Similar:
disagreeable (not to your liking)
Context examples
I've done my best, but you won't be reasonable, and it's selfish of you to keep teasing for what I can't give.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
She seemed to delight in teasing me, which was a change in her I wondered at very much.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Teasing the two apart is difficult, especially in humans.
(Nose Form Was Shaped by Climate, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
"This study brings us one step closer toward teasing out the effects in people with biomarker defined Alzheimer's."
(Aerobic Exercise Slows Cognitive Decline in Adults at Risk of Alzheimer's, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Impossible, Mr. Bennet, impossible, when I am not acquainted with him myself; how can you be so teasing?
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
How can you be so teasing; only conceive, my dear Catherine, what your brother wants me to do.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
In his anger he had met the first advances of the express messengers with growls, and they had retaliated by teasing him.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
“No,” I answered, and she questioned no further, though I could have sworn her eyes retained for some time a mocking, teasing expression.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Sometimes it involves direct attacks such as hitting, name calling, teasing or taunting.
(Bullying, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
But this is teasing you.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"There is nothing as eloquent as a rattlesnake's tail." (Native American proverb, Navajo)
"Your son is like how you raised him. And your husband is like how you trained him." (Arabic proverb)
"High trees catch lots of wind." (Dutch proverb)