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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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 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

During one sequence, Swift sits in her director’s chair with Kelce standing behind her, smiling and laughing with his hands lovingly holding her arms.

— Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 13 Oct. 2026
Israeli soldiers filmed themselves in high definition laughing, looting homes, destroying entire rows of buildings, humiliating civilians, even killing them.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of laughing

Verb

Less scrolling on the toilet in fear, more giggling with compatriots in joy.

— Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 11 Oct. 2026
This approach worked for Jean Nelson of Pasadena, California, after her 2-year-old son, Luke, took delight in dragging toilet paper down the hall, giggling as the roll unfurled behind him.

— Cynthia Hanson, Parents, 13 Sep. 2026

Definition of giggling

Verb

The Tío Xavier persona that Becerra supporters have trotted out — a kind, chuckling sage — isn’t what California needs right now.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
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

Definition of chuckling

Verb

At an intersection in Hyde Park that, days earlier, had been the scene of chaos — a young girl on the ground, a car with a teenage boy on the windshield, a mother screaming — Jonathan Hale led his band of rebels.

— Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Someone who people think is abrasive and is screaming ‘Love me,’ but punching people at the same time.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 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 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of chortling

verb

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