teasing

Syllables: teas·ing/ˈtiːz.ɪŋ/US/ˈtiz.ɪŋ/

teasing is the present participle and gerund of tease.

Noun

teasing (countable and uncountable, plural teasings)

The act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously, especially by ridicule; provoking someone with persistent annoyances; making fun of, making light of someone.
- Teasing can be seen as a kind of workplace abuse.
- The gentle teasing between siblings filled the house with laughter.
Synonyms:

quizzery, ribbing, tantalization, tease
The act of removing tangles from one's hair with a comb.
- The teasing of her curls took nearly an hour with the fine-tooth comb.
Synonyms:

comb-out

teasing (comparative more teasing, superlative most teasing)

Playfully vexing, especially by ridicule.
- The children exchanged teasing remarks during recess.
Synonyms:

mocking, quizzical
Arousing sexual desire without intending to satisfy it.
- The actress gave him a teasing glance before walking away.
Causing irritation or annoyance.
- The teasing itch from the mosquito bite drove her crazy.
Synonyms:

annoying, bothersome, galling, irritating, nettlesome, pesky, pestering, pestiferous, plaguey, plaguy

tease (third-person singular simple present teases, present participle teasing, simple past and past participle teased)

(transitive) To separate the fibres of (a fibrous material).
(transitive) To comb (originally with teasels) so that the fibres all lie in one direction.
(transitive) To backcomb.
(transitive) To poke fun at, either cruelly or affectionately in a playful way.
- The difference between teasing and taunting is like the difference between kissing and spitting. The ingredients are the same; it is the emotion that determines whether it is pleasing or repellent.... Proper teasing says, in effect, "I know all your little oddities and faults, but as they are part...1998 February 22, Judith Martin, “Tease and sympathy”, in The Washington Post
Synonyms:

razz, chaff
(transitive) To provoke or disturb; to annoy.
- Not by the force of carnal reason, / But indefatigable teasing.1684, Samuel Butler, Hudibras
Synonyms:

ride
(transitive) To manipulate or influence the behavior of, especially by repeated acts of irritation.
- A young woman, if she fall into bad hands, may be teazed, and kept at a distance from those she wants to be with; but one cannot comprehend a young man’s being under such restraint, as not to be able to spend a week with his father, if he likes it.1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter XIV, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 260

9 more synonymsFewer synonyms

From tease + -ing.

What does teasing mean?: Teasing means the act of harassing someone playfully or maliciously, especially by ridicule; provoking someone with persistent annoyances; making fun of, making light of someone.
What is teasing the present participle and gerund of?: Teasing is the present participle and gerund of tease.
What part of speech is teasing?: Teasing can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce teasing?: Teasing is pronounced /ˈtiːz.ɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of teasing?: The plural of teasing is teasings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: teasing (page history and authors); tease (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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Cite this entry: “teasing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/teasing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.