1. joking; not serious; insincere; mocking

1. Don’t be insulted by what Rosy said. She meant it tongue-in-cheek.

2. Ann made a tongue-in-cheek remark to John, and he got mad because he thought she was serious.

3. The play seemed very serious at first, but then everyone saw that it was tongue-in-cheek, and they began laughing.

4. He said that he was a huge fan of the president, although I suspect it was tongue in cheek.

5. He made some tongue-in-cheek comment about being very busy cleaning his house.