: characterized by insincerity, irony, or whimsical exaggeration
: with insincerity, irony, or whimsical exaggeration
Examples of tongue-in-cheek in a Sentence
Adverb
The whole interview was done tongue in cheek.
Recent Examples on the Web
Monica Pitrelli, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2024
In less than a year, the brand has made a splash with its tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign, which has seen its founders extolling the joys of sipping tequila.
—Hudson Lindenberger, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024
Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 17 July 2024
In fairness, some of it was tongue in cheek, but there was definitely an element of seriousness to it.
—Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 5 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tongue-in-cheek 
Adjective
The tongue-in-cheek video has racked up 8.4 million views, an impressive achievement for a fake version of a safety briefing that most travelers ignore.
—Monica Pitrelli, CNBC, 5 Sep. 2024
In less than a year, the brand has made a splash with its tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign, which has seen its founders extolling the joys of sipping tequila.
—Hudson Lindenberger, Forbes, 4 Sep. 2024
Adverb
Wearing a colorful beach hat emblazoned with hot dog icons, Stewart drew TV cameras and several dozen downtown merchants to her declaration — only slightly tongue in cheek — that Hard-Hittin’ New Britain deserves the title of alpha dog in the hot dog world.
—Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 17 July 2024
In fairness, some of it was tongue in cheek, but there was definitely an element of seriousness to it.
—Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 5 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for tongue-in-cheek
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tongue-in-cheek.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tongue-in-cheek
Cite this Entry
“Tongue-in-cheek.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tongue-in-cheek. Accessed 11 Sep. 2024.
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