MEANING
To laugh in a pleased, chuckling manner.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- chortle with delight
- chortle at a joke
On the page
He chortled at the unexpected ending.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- chortle
- Past tense
- chortled
- Past participle
- chortled
- Present participle
- chortling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- chortle
- Present continuous
- am/is/are chortling
- Present perfect
- have/has chortled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been chortling
- Past
- chortled
- Past continuous
- was/were chortling
- Past perfect
- had chortled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been chortling
- Future
- will chortle
- Future continuous
- will be chortling
- Future perfect
- will have chortled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been chortling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: chortle; chortles; chortled; chortled; chortling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: description, character, dialogue. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: chortles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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