Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Meant or expressed ironically or facetiously.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective idiomatic not intended
seriously ;jocular orhumorous
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb in a bantering fashion
- adjective cleverly amusing in tone
- adverb not seriously
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tongue-in-cheek.
Examples
-
The crass appropriation of Christian imagery in the name of tongue-in-cheek kitsch increasingly makes me flinch - but quietly, as I don't want to come across as some sort of po-faced fundie, now, do I?
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011
-
In 1950, Stephen Potter, the British author of Gamesmanship and Lifemanship and the coiner of one-upmanship, gave the word a tongue-in-cheek sense of “a maneuver to gain the better of an opponent or co-worker.”
The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004
-
In 1950, Stephen Potter, the British author of Gamesmanship and Lifemanship and the coiner of one-upmanship, gave the word a tongue-in-cheek sense of “a maneuver to gain the better of an opponent or co-worker.”
The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time William Safire 2004
-
The Borgesian frame provided by the translator's introduction and an appendix relating the history of the lost books contributes an additional tongue-in-cheek element that completes the novel's masquerade as a feat of "scholarship."
Experimental Fiction 2010
-
My remark about foreign sailors referring to themselves in English was said tongue-in-cheek, of course!
-
Justice Breyer's obviously tongue-in-cheek question supplies its own answer.
Dennis A. Henigan: Reading the Constitution: Originalism That Defies History Dennis A. Henigan 2011
-
Justice Breyer's obviously tongue-in-cheek question supplies its own answer.
Dennis A. Henigan: Reading the Constitution: Originalism That Defies History Dennis A. Henigan 2011
-
Not to mention tongue-in-cheek dialog mocking the superhero genre in general?
-
My remark about foreign sailors referring to themselves in English was said tongue-in-cheek, of course!
-
My remark about foreign sailors referring to themselves in English was said tongue-in-cheek, of course!
jwjarvis commented on the word tongue-in-cheek
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/tongue-in-cheek.html
November 19, 2010
karpkatamala commented on the word tongue-in-cheek
Pepe is a smirking cartoon frog that was originally conceived as an innocent illustration but has been appropriated as a tongue-in-cheek icon by aggressively pro-Trump types.
January 18, 2018