taunt

See also: Taunt

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /tɔːnt/, enPR: tônt

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /tɔnt/, enPR: tônt
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /tɑnt/, enPR: tänt
• Rhymes: -ɔːnt, -ɑːnt

Etymology 1

Middle French tanter (“to tempt, try, provoke”), variant of Old French tempter (“to try”). Doublet of tempt.

Verb

taunt (third-person singular simple present taunts, present participle taunting, simple past and past participle taunted)

1. to make fun of (someone); to goad (a person) into responding, often in an aggressive manner.

Translations

to make fun of (someone); to goad into responding

• Arabic: سَخِرَ (saḵira)

  Hijazi Arabic: اَتَّرْيَق (attaryag)

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: надсмивам се (nadsmivam se), подигравам се (podigravam se)
• Catalan: mofar-se de
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: hekelen (nl)
• Esperanto: defii
• Finnish: pilkata (fi)
• French: narguer (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: verspotten (de), hänseln (de), Spott treiben mit
• Greek: λοιδορώ (el) (loidoró), χλευάζω (el) (chlevázo), σαρκάζω (el) (sarkázo), κοροϊδεύω (el) (koroïdévo)

  Ancient Greek: κερτομέω (kertoméō)

• Hebrew: סָנַט (he) (sanát)
• Hungarian: kigúnyol (hu)
• Icelandic: smána, brigsla, hæða
• Italian: schernire (it), dileggiare (it), irridere (it)
• Japanese: 楯突く (たてつく, tatetsuku)
• Khmer: ចំអក (km) (cɑmʼɑɑk)
• Korean: 조롱하다 (ko) (joronghada), 모욕하다 (ko) (moyokhada)
• Maori: tāwai, taunu, whakatarariki
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: håne
• Portuguese: zombar (pt), provocar (pt)
• Romanian: batjocori (ro), zeflemisi (ro)
• Russian: насмеха́ться над (ru) impf (nasmexátʹsja nad)
• Spanish: mofarse de (es)
• Swedish: häckla (sv), pika (sv), smäda (sv)
• Tamil: சீண்டு (ta) (cīṇṭu)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: alay etmek (tr), sataşmak (tr), iğnelemek (tr)
• Vietnamese: chế giễu (vi)

Noun

taunt (plural taunts)

1. A scornful or mocking remark; a jeer or mockery
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:

     VVith ſcoffs and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.

   • 2020 November 13, Duncan Campbell, “Peter Sutcliffe obituary”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     The attacks and the failure to catch the killer created an atmosphere of fear and dismay throughout Yorkshire, and provoked grim taunts to the police at Leeds United football matches such as “Ripper 10, Police nil”

Translations

a scornful or mocking remark

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: kinayə (az)
• Bulgarian: присмех (bg) m (prismeh), подигравка (bg) f (podigravka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 嘲弄 (zh) (cháonòng)

• Dutch: schimpscheut (nl) m
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: pilkka (fi)
• French: sarcasme (fr) m
• Galician: escarnio (gl) m, mofa f, ludibrio (gl) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Spott (de) m, höhnische Bemerkung f, spöttische Bemerkung f, Stichelei (de) f
• Greek: χλευασμός (el) m (chlevasmós), λοιδορία (el) f (loidoría), σαρκασμός (el) m (sarkasmós), κοροϊδία (el) f (koroïdía)
• Hungarian: gúnyolódás (hu), beszólás (hu)
• Icelandic: smán (is) n, brigsl n, hæðni f
• Irish: oirbhire f, tarcaisne f
• Italian: scherno (it) m, dileggio (it) m
• Japanese: 嘲笑 (ja) (ちょうしょう, chōshō)
• Khmer: ការចំអក (karchâmʼâk)
• Korean: 조롱 (ko) (jorong), 모욕 (ko) (moyok)
• Macedonian: по́тсмев m (pótsmev)
• Maori: taunu, kaioraora
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: forhånelse m, hån (no) m, nid n
• Polish: drwina (pl) f
• Portuguese: zombaria (pt) f
• Romanian: batjocură (ro) f, zeflemea (ro) f
• Russian: ко́лкость (ru) f (kólkostʹ)
• Spanish: mofa (es)
• Swedish: gliring (sv) m, glåpord (sv) n
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: alay (tr)
• Vietnamese: lời chế giễu

Derived terms

• playground taunt

 

Etymology 2

Compare Old French tant (“so great”), French tant (“so much”), Latin tantus (“of such size, so great, so much”). See ataunt.

Adjective

taunt (comparative more taunt, superlative most taunt)

1. (obsolete, nautical) Very high or tall.
   • 1764, Duhamel du Monceau, The Elememts of Naval Architecture:

     the great ships, for want of ſufficient masts, will lose the advantages the taunt masts would procure

References

• “taunt”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “taunt”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.