titter
/ˈtɪtɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.86 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To laugh or giggle in a somewhat subdued or restrained way, as from nervousness or poorly-suppressed amusement.
Example Sentences
- "1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tales of a Wayside Inn Part First: The Sicilian's Tale - King Robert of Sicily A group of tittering pages ran before."
- ""Thou coxy, cackling candle!" said Catweazle. "Why dost thou titter?""
- "Nor had the joke been a vulgar one: it was the kind of elegant pleasantry that the minister of foreign affairs might have told the crown prince at a garden party a generation ago, causing the surrounding listeners to titter with delight."
- "April 21, 1811, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk There was a titter of […] delight on his countenance."
- "Flesh Gordon 2 - I remember that this one was chock full of big titters. Many of them looked like the natural variety, as well."
- "there was an old lady from raleigh who was so doggone nasty by golly just squeezin her titters you'd pick up some critters and bathe twice in one month for your folly"
Etymology
First attested in the 1610s. Probably from Middle English *titeren, *titren (attested in Middle English titering (“hesitation, vacillation”)), probably a frequentative of Middle English titten (“to waver”), ultimately of imitative origin. Related to Old Norse titra (“to shake, shiver, quiver”) (if not borrowed from it), dialectal Swedish tittra (“to snicker”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *titrōną (“to tremble”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *titeren, titten
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɪtɚ/
- British English: /ˈtɪtə(ɹ)/