I. taunt 1 /tɔːnt $ tɒːnt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: Perhaps from Old French tenter 'to try, tempt' ]
to try to make someone angry or upset by saying unkind things to them ⇨ tease
taunt somebody about something
The other children taunted him about his weight.
taunt somebody with something
They taunted him with the nickname ‘Fatso’.
‘And he’ll believe you, will he?’ Maria taunted.
—tauntingly adverb
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THESAURUS
▪ tease to laugh at someone and make jokes in order to have fun by embarrassing them, either in a friendly way or in an unkind way. In everyday English, people often say make fun of rather than tease :
At work, we all tease her because she’s always late.
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Sam’s sisters used to tease him because he was overweight.
▪ make fun of somebody/something to tease someone, especially in an unkind way, by laughing at something they do and making them seem stupid:
The boys at school used to make fun of me and call me names.
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Everyone made fun of the way our Maths teacher walked.
▪ taunt /tɔːnt tɔːnt/ to tease someone in a very unpleasant way that shows you do not respect them, in order to make them angry or upset:
In the end he hit the man for taunting him about his wife.
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The other prisoners taunted him until he couldn’t bear it any more.
▪ pull sb’s leg informal to tease someone in a friendly way, by trying to make them think something is true when it is not:
I’m not really 18. I was only pulling your leg.
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I don’t believe you! You’re pulling my leg!
▪ wind somebody up British English informal to deliberately say something to someone, in order to see if they become annoyed or worried:
Are you trying to wind me up?
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My friends are always winding me up about it.
▪ take the mickey (out of somebody) British English informal to make someone look silly, often in a friendly way, for example by copying them or saying something that you do not really mean about them:
I don’t speak like that – stop taking the mickey!
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‘You’re a genius, we all know that!’ ‘Are you taking the mickey out of me?’
II. taunt 2 BrE AmE noun [countable often plural]
a remark or joke intended to make someone angry or upset:
racist taunts
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THESAURUS
▪ comment something that you say or write in order to give your opinion:
Does anyone have any comments?
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Readers are invited to send in their comments and suggestions.
▪ remark something that you say:
Just ignore them if they start making rude remarks.
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I’m not sure what he meant by that last remark.
▪ point something that someone mentions about a subject in a discussion, argument, article etc:
That’s an interesting point, Steve.
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He raises (=mentions) a number of important points in his paper.
▪ observation a comment in which you say what you think or have noticed about something:
Karl Marx made the observation that history repeats itself first as tragedy, second as farce.
▪ aside a comment made in a low voice, that you intend only certain people to hear:
‘Is that true?’, she whispered in an aside to Don.
▪ quip /kwɪp/ a clever and amusing comment:
She knew she should reply with some light-hearted quip.
▪ dig informal a comment you make to annoy or criticize someone:
I’m tired of her little digs at me.
▪ taunt /tɔːnt $ tɒːnt/ a comment intended to make someone angry or upset:
The fans made racist taunts throughout the game.