To his ears, sounded like a self-mocking falsetto.    From Wordnik.com.  [‘Border Songs’] Reference

It is part artistic declaration part self-mocking.    From Wordnik.com.  [You Get So Caught Up « So Many Books] Reference

It's recent, but it is both adorable and self-mocking.    From Wordnik.com.  [at the end of the drive, the lawmen arrive] Reference

Anna's lips curled into a sardonic, self-mocking smile.    From Wordnik.com.  [Darksong Rising]

He was specific and self-mocking because he was wounded.    From Wordnik.com.  [Beard] Reference

We know Joan Rivers can be tacky, abrasive, self-mocking.    From Wordnik.com.  [Can We Talk?] Reference

The frequent self-mocking conceals a stubborn self-confidence.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Reporter Who Launched The "Monster" Story Speaks...] Reference

He spoke with a sardonic, friendly, slightly self-mocking air.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Skrayling Tree]

Despite Rebecca's light, self-mocking tone, this isn't chick-lit.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Family Tree: Summary and book reviews of The Family Tree by Carole Cadwalladr.] Reference

She smiled, and the expression was self-mocking, the effect charming.    From Wordnik.com.  [Flash] Reference

Ironically self-mocking in a postmodern deconstructionist kind of way?.    From Wordnik.com.  [BSNYC Friday Fun Quiz! [insert "karate hands" here]] Reference

You know that sense of humor, self-mocking sense of humor was part of it.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Apr 9, 2002] Reference

When he faced me, his lips were twisted in a lopsided, self-mocking smile.    From Wordnik.com.  [Till the Butchers Cut Him Down]

Non-violent, ranging in difficulty levels, short and kind of self-mocking?.    From Wordnik.com.  [Archive 2006-11-01] Reference

He patted the blade sharply and his eyes were suddenly hard and self-mocking.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Weird of the White Wolf]

It's not self-mocking at all but still manages to take itself none to seriously.    From Wordnik.com.  [31 Days of Zombie!, Day 22: Re-Animator (Stuart Gordon, 1985)] Reference

Witty, ingenious, and different it was, but it was gross and self-mocking as well.    From Wordnik.com.  [Buried Alive, The Biography of Janis Joplin]

He put on his large head-sheltering hat and gave me a twisting self-mocking smile.    From Wordnik.com.  [Decider]

Maigret sighed, and finally gave a faint self-mocking smile that was uncharacteristic.    From Wordnik.com.  [Maigret and the Bum]

I feel sort of like John Cusack's shrink in Grosse Pointe Blank, in a self-mocking way.    From Wordnik.com.  [mrissa: Two to go.] Reference

"Special?" laughed the commodore, and there was an underbite to the self-mocking expression.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Silent Warrior]

Always self-mocking of his stringy, badly dressed form, he could still imagine it in marble.    From Wordnik.com.  [No Ordinary Tome] Reference

"It's a self-mocking way of downplaying the significance of the real money that's being traded.".    From Wordnik.com.  [Liar's Poker Lives: Entrepreneur Conjures Bygone Era of Bluffs and High Stakes] Reference

But he went through a charade of self-mocking embarrassment, and seemed about to pluck off the tag.    From Wordnik.com.  [Galapagos]

The Democrats were more self-mocking and vocal in their criticism of themselves and their own party.    From Wordnik.com.  [Ruth Fowler: UK Elections: A Well Hung Parliament Suffers From ED] Reference

Aliora straightened into a formal posture, a self-mocking stance, because she was seldom that formal.    From Wordnik.com.  [Flash] Reference

Although her hands fitfully crumpled the piece of stationery, she managed a small, self-mocking smile.    From Wordnik.com.  [One Night Of Scandal]

A few years ago, after a dustup with shortstop Derek Jeter, the two did a self-mocking Visa commercial.    From Wordnik.com.  [1930–2010: George Steinbrenner] Reference

His breathtaking smile of innate self-mocking charm banished her tension and warmed her like the sunlight.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Arabian Mistress]

“Parts of the world other than Africa,” he said at one point, with his characteristic self-mocking smile.    From Wordnik.com.  [Kahawa]

I think it's funny, because, again, it was sort of self-mocking with all of the celebrities taking part in it.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Feb 7, 2005] Reference

Sadly, the Liberace Museum here never quite grasped the "think bigger" message in the entertainer's self-mocking aside.    From Wordnik.com.  [Can Liberace's Legacy Stay in Vegas?] Reference

As recently as a few weeks ago, Mr. Horsley continued to correspond with Kevin in clever, sweetly self-mocking e-mails.    From Wordnik.com.  [The remarkable Mr. Horsley] Reference

I turned from the door and he was at the head of the stairs, urging me on with a bow that was at once gracious and self-mocking.    From Wordnik.com.  [A Dance at the Slaughterhouse.html]

Hennessey's account of his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst is absolutely delicious, self-mocking and irreverent.    From Wordnik.com.  [Jonathan Yardley reviews "The Junior Officers' Reading Club"] Reference

Could that pressing of lips to fingers have been a salute of self-mocking formality, an affectionate farewell to a loved adult daughter?.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Beekeeper's Apprentice]