jest — OET · Shobdo

jest

noun

1 the men talk cheerfully and jests are bandied about freely:

joke, witticism, funny remark, gag, quip, sally, pun, play on words;

French bon mot;

informal crack, wisecrack, one-liner, funny, comeback;

repartee, banter.

2 he wished that Lady Lavinia had not practised this jest upon him:

prank, joke, practical joke, piece of mischief, hoax, trick, jape;

informal leg-pull, put-on, lark;

North American, informal dido.

□ in jest

he could tell from the others' smirks that it was meant in jest:

in fun, as a joke, tongue in cheek, playfully, jokingly, light-heartedly, facetiously, flippantly, frivolously, for a laugh;

to tease, teasingly, banteringly, whimsically.

▷antonyms seriously.

verb

1 ‘It's good weather when it doesn't snow before half-time, ’ he jests:

joke, crack, quip, gag, sally, pun;

tell jokes, crack jokes, banter;

informal wisecrack.

2 she began to fear that they had not been jesting:

fool, fool about, fool around, play a prank, play a practical joke, tease, hoax;

informal kid, wind up, have on, pull someone's leg, make a monkey out of;

North American, informal pull someone's chain, fun, shuck.

jest Oxford Dictionary of English