‘逗笑’ is a verb meaning ‘to make someone laugh’—it emphasizes the act of causing laughter through playfulness, teasing, or lighthearted behavior. The first character, 逗 (dòu), means ‘to tease’ or ‘to amuse’, while the second, 笑 (xiào), means ‘to laugh’. Together, they form a resultative verb compound where 逗 indicates the action and 笑 the resulting state: the person being teased ends up laughing. It’s commonly used in everyday spoken and written Chinese to describe intentional, gentle humor—not sarcasm or mockery.

This word often appears with a subject (a person or thing) performing the action and an object (the person who laughs). It can be used transitively (e.g., 他逗笑了孩子) or intransitively with context (e.g., 这只小狗真会逗笑). It carries a warm, affectionate tone and is especially common when describing children, pets, or entertainers engaging others playfully.