to irritate or provoke with persistent petty distractions, trifling jests, or other annoyances, often playfully: If your little sister is teasing you about your boyfriend and following you around making kissy faces, it’s because she’s jealous and she wants your attention.
to bully, harass, or torment: I was teased about my lisp when I was younger.New animals are kept isolated when they first arrive at the sanctuary to prevent the established pack from teasing or frightening them.
Informal. to purposely excite or sexually arouse (someone) without subsequent gratification: Don’t tease me with vacation ideas you know we can’t afford!The bride-to-be teased her fiancé with a sexy little dance even though she knew they couldn’t go all the way with a house full of wedding guests.
to pull apart or separate the adhering fibers of (wool or the like), as in combing or carding; comb or card, as wool; shred.
to ruffle (the hair) by holding it at the ends and combing toward the scalp so as to give body to a hairdo.
to raise a nap on (cloth) with teasels; teasel.
to introduce (a new product) without revealing details about it, conveying only that the product exists and will be available at a future date: Both developers teased next generation game consoles at the expo, but neither released specs.
verb (used without object),teased,teas·ing.
to provoke, disturb, torment, or bully a person or animal with persistent annoyances or harassment.
noun
a person who teases or annoys.
Informal. a person who purposely excites or sexually arouses another, but then withholds gratification: The weatherman needs to stop being such a tease with these predicted snow days.All I did was set some sexual boundaries, but now he's spreading rumors that I'm a tease.
the act of teasing or the state of being teased.
Slang. teaser (def. 5a).
Origin of tease
First recorded before 1000; Middle English tesen (verb), Old English tǣsan “to pull, tear, comb”; cognate with Middle Low German tesen, Old High German zeisan “to pluck”
SYNONYMS FOR tease
1 trouble, disturb, vex; harass.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR tease ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR tease
1 mollify.
SEE ANTONYMS FOR tease ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for tease
1. See bother.
OTHER WORDS FROM tease
teas·a·ble,adjectiveteas·a·ble·ness,nounteas·ing·ly,adverbout·tease,verb (used with object),out·teased,out·teas·ing.