as in joking
marked by or expressive of mild or good-natured teasing
the lightly ribbing tone tipped me off that this wasn't a serious reprimand
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in mocking
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in teasing
to make fun of in a good-natured way
ribbed him a bit about fumbling such an easy play
Synonyms & Similar Words
Examples of ribbing in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 10 Sep. 2024
Lakers LeBron James says pay cut was about making sure his relationship with Lakers works
July 7, 2024
Durant added some good-natured ribbing of some fellow Team USA players.
—Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2024
McCoubrey was in the Navy, while Samaras and Theis served in the Army — a divide that's become the subject of some good-natured ribbing in their home.
—James Brown, CBS News, 3 July 2024
While Team America’s ribbing of celebs who dare to care about world events isn’t the film’s finest point, the picture still works well as a parody of jingoistic action movies and the overall vibe of post-9/11 America.
—Jordan Hoffman, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ribbing 
Noun
The jokes centered around the nuances of the Black community that has long called Harlem home, but the crowd embraced the good-natured ribbing.
—Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 10 Sep. 2024
Lakers LeBron James says pay cut was about making sure his relationship with Lakers works
July 7, 2024
Durant added some good-natured ribbing of some fellow Team USA players.
—Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2024
McCoubrey was in the Navy, while Samaras and Theis served in the Army — a divide that's become the subject of some good-natured ribbing in their home.
—James Brown, CBS News, 3 July 2024
While Team America’s ribbing of celebs who dare to care about world events isn’t the film’s finest point, the picture still works well as a parody of jingoistic action movies and the overall vibe of post-9/11 America.
—Jordan Hoffman, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for ribbing
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ribbing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Thesaurus Entries Near ribbing
Cite this Entry
“Ribbing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ribbing. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share