“To gibe” is defined as to taunt or sneer (“gibe” is also a noun, meaning a taunt), while “jibe” indicates a directional change or to agree. 

For example: 

  • The friends’ stories about what happened last night didn’t jibe. 
  • The young pitcher tried to ignore the gibes from the stands.

And while some dictionaries suggest these may be used interchangeably, the Associated Press clearly delineates, as do other style guides.

Here’s perhaps the trickier part: People often use “jive” to mean to agree, but the good people at Merriam-Webster would really prefer that we stop doing that.