playful · wink · laughter · banter · fooling · jesting · pulling your leg · gotcha · psych · not serious · messing around · ribbing · mischief · grin · tongue-in-cheek · lighthearted · smirk · trickster
just jokingdead serious
Absolutely not joking
I mean it · no joke · in all seriousness · seriously · for real
IDEA.org / Words / just joking
Related — kidding (Teasing playfully); teasing (Playful, mild ridicule); pranking (Playing harmless tricks); sarcasm · humor · playful · wink · laughter · banter · fooling · jesting · pulling your leg · gotcha
sincerity of intentjust joking ≠ dead serious Absolutely not joking; I mean it · no joke · in all seriousness · seriously · for real
emotional registerjust joking ≠ gravely In serious manner; solemnly · soberly · heavy-heartedly · pointedly
seriousness of discoursejust joking ≠ pay attention Concentrate on something; mark my words · hear me out
Word data: Linguabase (CC0) · www.idea.org/words/just_joking