Josh
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An instance of good-natured banter.
- 1 To tease someone in a kindly or friendly fashion. transitive
""My dear Polly. I welcome criticism, but this is mere——" Lady Wetherby stroked his coat sleeve fondly. "Never mind, Algie, I was only joshing you, precious.[…]""
- 2 be silly or tease one another wordnet
- 3 To make or exchange good-natured jokes. intransitive
"We are old friends, did I not tell you? So I may, what you Americans call, josh with him."
- 1 A diminutive of the male given name Joshua.
"Senators Josh Hawley and Elizabeth Warren are teaming up on a bill that targets pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as the health care industry faces growing scrutiny following last week's shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO."
- 2 A city mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
Example
More examples"Josh asked me out, but I told him where to go."
Etymology
Disputed origin, first attested in the mid-19th century. The earliest example is capitalized, therefore is likely derived from the proper name Joshua.
Related phrases
More for "josh"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.