tittered; tittering; titters
plural titters
: a quiet or nervous laugh : an act or instance of tittering
There were a few titters from the students.
Most importantly, I can see the candidates' body language when they're off-camera and hear the murmurs and titters in the crowd.—
Dana Milbank
Dana MilbankSynonyms
Examples of titter in a Sentence
Verb
Some people in the audience tittered nervously during an awkward pause in the speech.
even as students in the sex ed class continued to titter, the lecturer plowed ahead
Noun
a titter swept through the crowd at his verbal slip
Recent Examples on the WebJulia Jacobs, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2023
The crowd began to titter as Newman shaded his eyes, pretending to look into the stands for a challenger.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2023
Little Madilyn, tittering, looks up at me and stuffs both hands into her mouth to stop from whooping.
—E. Jean Carroll, Outside Online, 15 Nov. 2018
As a consumer product for those who titter, this production appears to check all the boxes.
—Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2021
All hail sound designer Ben Burtt: The tittering probe droid, the braying AT-AT laserspray.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 30 Oct. 2019
That didn’t seem to faze the opening-night audience, which tittered at each scandalous line.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2019
The pass arrived just in time, and the crowd tittered in excitement.
—Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 3 Aug. 2019
Six floors below Picasso’s most famous painting the audience tittered.
—Chloe Malle, Vogue, 20 Nov. 2018
Kate Cohen, Washington Post, 25 July 2024
Santiago, dressed as the Grim Reaper, toys with her for a while, giving her a bit of hope before killing her in front of an audience that nervously titters before bursting into applause.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 19 May 2024
His every appearance is met with titters of laughter, all amply deserved.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 30 June 2023
A bit of public masturbation by a gravesite, rendered in dim blue light as Turturro faces away from the audience, with a splatter of ejaculate rendered through projections (by Alex Basco Koch), gets a few predictable titters from the audience but never feels as edgy as it’s presumably meant to.
—Vulture, 2 Nov. 2023
There are some titters from his family, more deflated than amused.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
There’s much comedy in the asking (menopausal feminists delivering deliberately unfunny monologues at open-mic night at the local comedy club prompts an uneasy titter in both the audience and the reader), but the novel makes clear that the answers aren’t straightforward.
—Claire Messud, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
There was delighted laughter of those surprised by humorous turns that rarely get a titter anymore.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2023
Verb
As a beaming Turner greeted a cast of hopefuls in the premiere episode, the senior center crowd tittered at attention-getting strategies like riding up to the Bachelor Mansion on a motorcycle, groaning at the franchise’s wink-wink, nudge-nudge innuendo.
—Julia Jacobs, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2023
The crowd began to titter as Newman shaded his eyes, pretending to look into the stands for a challenger.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2023
Little Madilyn, tittering, looks up at me and stuffs both hands into her mouth to stop from whooping.
—E. Jean Carroll, Outside Online, 15 Nov. 2018
As a consumer product for those who titter, this production appears to check all the boxes.
—Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2021
All hail sound designer Ben Burtt: The tittering probe droid, the braying AT-AT laserspray.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 30 Oct. 2019
That didn’t seem to faze the opening-night audience, which tittered at each scandalous line.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2019
The pass arrived just in time, and the crowd tittered in excitement.
—Jonas Shaffer, baltimoresun.com, 3 Aug. 2019
Six floors below Picasso’s most famous painting the audience tittered.
—Chloe Malle, Vogue, 20 Nov. 2018
Noun
Trump rallies have over-the-top party energy; Trump nicknames draw titters from the crowd.
—Kate Cohen, Washington Post, 25 July 2024
Santiago, dressed as the Grim Reaper, toys with her for a while, giving her a bit of hope before killing her in front of an audience that nervously titters before bursting into applause.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 19 May 2024
His every appearance is met with titters of laughter, all amply deserved.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 30 June 2023
A bit of public masturbation by a gravesite, rendered in dim blue light as Turturro faces away from the audience, with a splatter of ejaculate rendered through projections (by Alex Basco Koch), gets a few predictable titters from the audience but never feels as edgy as it’s presumably meant to.
—Vulture, 2 Nov. 2023
There are some titters from his family, more deflated than amused.
—Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
There’s much comedy in the asking (menopausal feminists delivering deliberately unfunny monologues at open-mic night at the local comedy club prompts an uneasy titter in both the audience and the reader), but the novel makes clear that the answers aren’t straightforward.
—Claire Messud, Harper's Magazine, 22 June 2021
There was delighted laughter of those surprised by humorous turns that rarely get a titter anymore.
—Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'titter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Titter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/titter. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
titter
verb
tit·ter
ˈtit-ər 
: to laugh in a nervous manner or while trying to hold the laugh back
titter
noun
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