Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

laugh in one's sleeve

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.74 in modern English

Syllables: laugh- in one's sleeve
IPA

24

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

2

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

to laugh in secret or to oneself, usually gloatingly

Canadian usage; American usage

Example Sentences

"Nixon boastfully called the seven days he spent on the Chinese mainland "the week that changed the world"–without, however, specifying whether the change was for the better or for the worse. The way he humbled himself before Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai reminded me of the tribute-bearing foreign emissaries of the previous centuries who went to Peking to pay homage at the Chinese Imperial Court. Nixon's hosts must have laughed in their sleeves at his behavior during their meetings."

Usage

Canadian usage
American usage

Inflected Forms

laughs in one's sleeve (present, singular) laughing in one's sleeve (participle, present) laughed in one's sleeve (participle, past) laughed in one's sleeve (past) laugh up one's sleeve (alternative)

Questions

What does laugh in one's sleeve mean?: to laugh in secret or to oneself, usually gloatingly

How to pronounce laugh in one's sleeve

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