as in flippant
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Recent Examples of tongue-in-cheek
One sheriff’s office in the Florida Panhandle has turned to a tongue-in-cheek scoring system to publicly shame the worst offenders, posting a leaderboard of NCAA college conferences while adding points for each police bust.
—
Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
Her tongue-in-cheek jab spoke to their history as creative partners, and to the fact that Anderson had been nominated 14 times for an Academy Award heading into Sunday night.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
There is also plenty of room for visual humor here, with an array of comically phallic objects, shapes and even buildings forming a tongue-in-cheek tapestry on the screen.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
As the frontman of the Pogues, he was heralded for his cranky, often tongue-in-cheek delivery of songs about the misadventures of Ireland’s residents.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tongue-in-cheek
Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 19 Mar. 2026
Her tongue-in-cheek jab spoke to their history as creative partners, and to the fact that Anderson had been nominated 14 times for an Academy Award heading into Sunday night.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
There is also plenty of room for visual humor here, with an array of comically phallic objects, shapes and even buildings forming a tongue-in-cheek tapestry on the screen.
—Tomris Laffly, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
As the frontman of the Pogues, he was heralded for his cranky, often tongue-in-cheek delivery of songs about the misadventures of Ireland’s residents.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tongue-in-cheek
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tongue-in-cheek
Adjective
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Given how flippant Rodgers has been with his decision-making over the last few years, and his insistence that he won’t be bullied into deciding his future on anyone’s timeline but his makes predicting what the four-time MVP will do quite a tough ask.—
Michael Gallagher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
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In the fall, New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization after the release of a group chat that included jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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His posture is authoritative without being imposing, his voice warm without being facetious.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
5 Dec. 2025
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Powell was, of course, being facetious, as the low-quality videos featured the actor as a teen running and jumping in the street and lip-syncing to the song while wearing a yacht captain’s hat.—
Rachel DeSantis,
PEOPLE,
17 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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What's ironic is that this ability to adapt and upgrade made the U-2 outlive even its own successor.—
David Szondy
March 29,
New Atlas,
29 Mar. 2026
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The wry commentary eventually curdled into ironic prophecy, as Keynes became one of those defunct economists.—
Megan McArdle,
Washington Post,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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And yet, the wry grimaces that followed said the quiet part out loud.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
30 Mar. 2026
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The wry commentary eventually curdled into ironic prophecy, as Keynes became one of those defunct economists.—
Megan McArdle,
Washington Post,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Unfortunately, they have been taught to evaluate online communications with that cynical approach.—
Judith Martin,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2026
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There's far more acceptance for shows trying to be different than ever before, whether the programme is cynical or hopeful in nature.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Though the state is seeing a surface water supply far above average, March’s heat shock has left many less confident about the fate of water supply for the upcoming dry season.—
Chaewon Chung,
Sacbee.com,
1 Apr. 2026
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From December to January, Loni and other cities across northern India routinely grapple with a severe spike in pollution during the cold, dry winter months.—
Esha Mitra,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Britannica media editor Kurt Heintz, together with Emily Goldstein and Meg Matthias, is on a mission to spotlight poignant and noteworthy events for every day of the year.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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It’s collected alongside Mills’ other works, which share the poignant throughline of parenthood and bittersweet hope for the future, plus story notes for further context.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tongue-in-cheek.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tongue-in-cheek. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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