josh

1 of 3

verb

joshed; joshing; joshes

intransitive verb

: to engage in banter : joke

transitive verb

: to tease good-naturedly : kid
josher noun

josh

2 of 3

noun

: a good-humored joke : jest

Josh

3 of 3

abbreviation

Examples of josh in a Sentence

Verb Don't take him seriously. He's just joshing. don't get all hot and bothered! I'm just joshing you Noun a close-knit family constantly exchanging lighthearted joshes at the dinner table
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Bale, speaking in a bland, hollow voice that has the slightest hint of frat-boy joshing, delivers a piece of polished, satiric archness that goes well beyond the obvious allegorical gag (capitalism = murder) into ... what, exactly? Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2024 The movie’s best moments are the ones in which Mary and Paul camp out in front of the TV, drinking whiskey and joshing each other well into the wee hours. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2023 For over four decades, since taking over from Chuck Woolery, Sajak has been at that spot, joshing with Vanna White, heaving the wheel on final spins, wincing at Bankrupts and tethering exuberant winners. James Poniewozik, New York Times, 13 June 2023 Ripa—expertly self-deprecatory, humble in the face of escalating absurdities—joshed that their attendance was a form of punishment, and instead courted the home viewer’s attention. Troy Patterson, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2020 Last June, at an annual gathering of military bigwigs in Singapore, France’s defence minister joshed her British counterpart by pointing out that the previous year both had vied to send more frigates to the Shangri-La Dialogue than the other. The Economist, 14 Nov. 2019 The son of Caitlyn Jenner and star of The Hills joshed about the moment on Instagram yesterday when his pal Brandon Lee brought up the hot topic in his comments. Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, 12 Aug. 2019 They could just as easily be ensconced in your den, hunched over Playstation while joking, joshing and jabbing with each other as only best buds can. Rod Stafford Hagwood, sun-sentinel.com, 5 July 2019 There is a little too much joshing around going on, actually. Chris Erskine, latimes.com, 6 July 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'josh.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

origin unknown

First Known Use

Verb

1845, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun

1878, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of josh was in 1845

Dictionary Entries Near josh

Cite this Entry

“Josh.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/josh. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

josh

verb
ˈjäsh
: to joke with : tease

More from Merriam-Webster on josh

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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