half joke

English

Alternative forms

• half-joke

Noun

half joke (plural half jokes)

1. (idiomatic) A statement which contains elements of both jest and seriousness.
   • 2003, Suad Amiry, Earthquake in April, page 198:

     "Well, let's wait. Perhaps the shooting will die out."
     "Maybe the soldiers and settlers will die out with it," I say, another half-joke.

Verb

half joke (third-person singular simple present half jokes, present participle half joking, simple past and past participle half joked)

1. (idiomatic) To make a half joke.
   • 2011, Richard Doetsch, Half-Past Dawn, page 278:

     "You know why I think you're working with Cristos? Because once I was captured, once he got what he wanted, it would be far easier to pin it all on me, to kill my wife, dump her body where it would never be found, convince me and the world that I was crazy, no trial, just lock me up in a padded room until I succumbed to the cancer."
     "That sounds like a pretty good plan," Frank said, half joking.