badinage

noun

ba·​di·​nage ˌba-də-ˈnäzh 

: playful repartee : banter

Synonyms of badinage

• banter
• raillery
• joke
• repartee
• laugh
• jesting
• persiflage
• humorousness
• give-and-take
• humor
• chaff
• chatter
• joshing

Examples of badinage in a Sentence

the sophisticated badinage of the characters in plays by Oscar Wilde

Recent Examples on the Web

The speed and clarity with which Cruise delivers that monologue extends to his interactions with his co-stars in scenes that recall the whip-smart comedies of Preston Sturges in their fast badinage. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2026

Left on their own, boisterous badinage between old school British thespian Shaw and giggly, hyper-ventilating wannabe movie star Dreyfuss has taken hold. — Christopher Smith, Oc Register, 10 Mar. 2026

The action flows, the badinage is fast and fun. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025

Each bus has a pair of hosts, whose badinage is corny but crowd-pleasing. — Patricia Marx, New Yorker, 5 May 2025

In The Kitchen, Wesker tracked the decorum from friendly badinage to hostile vernacular that co-workers sustain just to get through the day. — Armond White, National Review, 30 Oct. 2024

The question of who was manipulating whom had been a meta thing in our conversations from the beginning, with jokey badinage about the power of interviewers and the vulnerability of their subjects. — Laura Kipnis, WIRED, 5 Dec. 2023

But also present are Heyer’s wry humor and deftness in witty badinage. — Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2022

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, going back to Middle French, "foolishness, stupidity," from badiner "to banter, jest, play the fool" (verbal derivative of badin "silly, foolish," as noun, "fool, simpleton," borrowed from Occitan, from badar "to have the mouth wide open, gape"—going back to Vulgar Latin *batāre, perhaps of imitative origin + -in, adjective suffix) + -age -age

First Known Use

circa 1658, in the meaning defined above