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to bust on

to bust on

1 8.1
To tease someone in a playful way
  • phrasal verb
  • /bʌst ɒn/
  • Informal
translation icon : burlarse de
  • And that's why I busted on your lecture, so I could meet you...

You know, I had some pretty good acoustic guitar intros myself and smiles and I thought, Oh my God, Joanie's totally busting on me.

Examples

  • At the party, they spent the night busting on their friend's dance moves.

  • So, we're supposed to go in there, bust on this punk

  • You wanna bust on someone, find yourself a husband to bust on

  • You wanna bust on someone, find yourself a husband to bust on

  • - I was just busting on you.

  • I probably would've busted on you, too.

  • The bust on Chrystie, right?

    Fiction book (1999)
  • We love to bust on each other during our game nights.

  • Whenever we hang out, we always bust on each other's silly habits.

Synonyms

to kid
vsto bust on
  • Informal
3.5

To tease someone in a friendly, playful way

can include mild criticism but stays informal and teasing
to poke fun
vsto bust on
  • Offensive
25 3.9

To make jokes about someone to make them look silly

is more about teasing and informal criticism without heavy ridicule
to poke fun at
vsto bust on
  • Offensive
23 3.4

To make jokes about someone, sometimes to be playful and sometimes to be unkind

is typically informal teasing rather than outright mockery
to jab at
vsto bust on
  • Informal
9 6.4

To make a short teasing or critical comment about someone

is gentler, focusing on informal teasing rather than sharp remarks
to bust my chops
vsto bust on
  • Informal
7 9.3

To tease or criticize someone in a friendly way

is general playful criticism without repeated annoyance
to razz
vsto bust on
  • Informal
5 9.1

To tease someone in a playful or annoying way

is more about casual criticism than continuous mocking
to rib
vsto bust on
  • Informal
2 3.8

To tease someone in a friendly, joking way

can be similar but often carries casual critical tone
to make sport of
vsto bust on
  • Offensive
2 7.5

To laugh at someone and say unkind things about them

is usually playful and informal rather than mean mockery
to chaff
vsto bust on
  • UK
1 7.5

To joke or tease someone in a friendly way

may criticize gently but is mainly informal teasing
to take the mickey
vsto bust on
  • Slang
1 9.1

To tease someone by making jokes about them in a friendly way

shares playfulness but can include sharper criticism
to bust someone's chops
vsto bust on
  • Informal
1 9.0

To tease or nag someone, often in a playful way

is informal teasing without strong persistence
to pull someone's leg
vsto bust on
  • Informal
1 4.1

To tell someone something that is not true to make them laugh

is playful criticism without using deception to tease
to break someone's chops
vsto bust on
  • Archaic
8.7

To tease or nag someone in a way that annoys them

leans more toward casual teasing rather than ongoing nagging
to guy
vsto bust on
  • Informal
7.0

To make fun of someone in a playful way

focuses on criticism with a playful informal tone

Antonyms

342 1.6

A polite remark that praises someone or something

161 1.0

Words or actions that show admiration for someone

How Teasing

bully
  • Offensive
301 3.2
to pick on
  • Informal
156 3.5
to tease
245 1.9
to bust on
  • Informal
1 8.1
to rib
  • Informal
2 3.8
to joke
476 1.0

Surface Forms

bust on infinitive
busted on past
busted on past participle
busting on present participle
busts on third person singular

Morphology

bust + on

The sense 'to criticize or tease' is slang/idiomatic and not a straightforward composition of 'bust' (commonly 'break' or 'arrest') + 'on' (a preposition/particle). While related idiomatic patterns exist (e.g. 'bust someone's chops'), the teasing meaning is not transparently derivable from the literal constituents, so a B1 learner who only knows the words would likely not predict it.

Etymology

Bust on may come from older informal phrases like bust someone's chops, where bust meant a playful 'hit' and on showed the action aimed at a person. Imagine someone lightly 'hitting' another with teasing words. That's why bust on means 'to tease or criticize playfully'.