Definition

Verb: - To tease mischievously; to joke around playfully: The act of saying or doing something in a lighthearted, playful, and often mischievous way to amuse oneself or others, without serious or harmful intent.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Anh ấy thích đùa cợt với em gái mình. (He likes to tease his younger sister.)
  • Đừng đùa cợt về chuyện đó, nó rất nghiêm túc. (Don't joke around about that; it's very serious.)
  • Bọn trẻ đang đùa cợt với nhau trong sân. (The children are teasing each other in the yard.)

Advanced Usage

• "Đùa cợt với ai/điều gì": To tease someone or joke about something.
  • Anh không nên đùa cợt với cảm xúc của cô ấy. (You shouldn't joke with her feelings.)
• "Chỉ là đùa cợt": It's just a joke / just teasing.
  • Thôi nào, chỉ là đùa cợt thôi mà! (Come on, it's just teasing!)

Variants and Related Words

• Đùa (verb): To joke, to kid. (A more general and common term for joking.)
  • Tôi chỉ đùa thôi. (I was just kidding.)
• Trêu chọc (verb): To tease, to poke fun at. (Can have a slightly stronger or more persistent connotation than .)
  • Nó thường trêu chọc bạn cùng lớp. (He often teases his classmates.)
• Nói đùa (verb phrase): To say something as a joke.
  • Tôi nói đùa về việc đó. (I joked about it.)

Synonyms

• Bỡn cợt (verb): To jest, to joke. (Similar meaning, slightly more literary.)
• Giỡn (verb): To play, to joke around. (Common in Southern Vietnamese dialect.)

Related Phrases

• Đùa dai: To keep teasing/joking persistently, even when the other person is annoyed.
  • Thằng bé đùa dai quá khiến bạn nó tức giận. (The boy kept teasing so much that his friend got angry.)
• Đùa quá lố / Đùa quá trớn: To joke excessively or go too far with a joke.
  • Lời đùa quá lố của anh đã làm tổn thương cô ấy. (Your excessive joking hurt her feelings.)

Related Idioms

• Đùa với lửa: To play with fire (to joke about or engage with something very dangerous).
  • Phớt lờ luật lệ như đùa với lửa vậy. (Ignoring the rules is like playing with fire.)
• Đùa cho vui: To joke for fun / just for laughs.
  • Tôi nói thế đùa cho vui thôi, đừng bận tâm. (I said that just for laughs; don't mind it.)

verb

1. to tease mischievously