half-jokingly

English

Etymology

From half- +‎ jokingly.

Adverb

half-jokingly (not comparable)

1. With an element of jest, but fundamentally in earnest.
   • 2023 July 26, Christian Wolmar, “Closing ticket offices to lead to 'catch-22' for passengers”, in RAIL, number 988, page 42:

     I wrote a piece, half-jokingly, for The Independent suggesting that it was all part of a cunning plan by ministers to deter people from using the railways. […] I now suspect this was rather closer to the truth than I had thought.

Translations

with an element of jest, but fundamentally in earnest

• Italian: tra il serio e il faceto
• Polish: półżartem, pół żartem, pół serio
• Scottish Gaelic: eadar fealla-dhà is fealla-trì, eadar fealla-dhà is fealla-rìribh

Further reading

• “half-jokingly”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.