Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
tittering

tittering

6.7
Laugh quietly because you feel nervous or shy
  • adjective
  • /ˈtɪtərɪŋ/
translation icon : risueño
  • Not wanting to disturb the meeting, the coworkers exchanged tittering giggles at the unexpected joke.

Examples

  • A burst of sound suddenly echoed through the temple, a sputtering, tittering, hissing noise.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • While the family shopped in Billings, they stole an afternoon together in their old room, engaging with the desperate, tittering carnality and self-pity of illicit lovers.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The children were tittering quietly as they shared funny stories during recess.

  • She stifled a tittering laugh when she realized she had tripped in front of her friends.

Synonyms

giggly
vstittering
6 2.9

Often laughing in a light, silly way when nervous or amused

is quieter and more restrained, showing nervous or self conscious laughter

Antonyms

unrestrained
13 5.7

Not held back and showing strong feelings or actions

uproarious
2 6.1

Very funny and causing loud, uncontrollable laughter

How Amused

laughing
1 1.0
tittering
6.7
to chuckle
237 2.0
smiling
2 1.0

Surface Forms

tittering positive

Morphology

tittering = titter (transparent) = titter + ing

Derived by straightforward suffixation of the verb 'titter' to form the participial/adjectival 'tittering', so the meaning is directly predictable from the base.

Etymology

Tittering comes from the tiny, repeated sound of light laughter: the root titter is like a quick 'ti-ti' giggle. That's why tittering means a quiet, often nervous or suppressed laugh.