CHORTLING Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

chortling

verb

present participle of chortle

as in laughing

to show mirth with an explosive vocal sound audiences might chortle gently during the movie's amusing bits, but there are few knee-slappers

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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 chortling Regime leaders must be chortling over their surprising and unearned new international legitimacy. — Daniel B. Shapiro, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026 The nightingale flew around the fox’s head, the two of them chortling in their own indiscernible ways. — Hazlitt, 19 Nov. 2025 Against all of this allegedly heady stuff, the score—by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—intentionally jars us from encroaching drowsiness with chortling woodwinds and shardlike piano chords that are the aural equivalent of jagged Plexiglass off-cuts. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for chortling

Verb

Being pelted on the world’s stage with the modern equivalent of rotten tomatoes – memes and scathing online posts – hasn't kept the dancer, born Rachael Gunn, from laughing.

— Erin Jensen, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026
Indeed, at lunch, instead of separating into groups to eat, all 16 participants form one mega table and spend the half-hour joking and laughing together.

— Ellise Shafer, Variety, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of laughing

Verb

Cubs pitcher David Peterson was coming out of the bullpen to pitch in the eighth inning after the fight took place, and the umpires were chuckling.

— Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026
In a New York Times interview, producer Tyran Donaldson, who has also worked with SZA, recalled chuckling at listening to the Diamonds work with the instrument.

— Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 14 July 2026

Definition of chuckling

Verb

For now, however, the company that produces Flock cameras is holding off on technology that can register screaming and perhaps even speech.

— Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2026
Harry Styles didn’t need to name-drop Taylor Swift to get his Madison Square Garden crowd screaming.

— Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of screaming

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chortles

chortling

chorus

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“Chortling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chortling. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of chortling

verb

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