Definition of BANTER

Can banter be vicious?

Noun

Banter refers to a form of jesting or to the act of exchanging joking repartee. Although the word once meant “ridicule,” and though it has a regional sense "a challenge or dare" (as in, "he performed a banter [or banner], jumping from the roof onto the snowbank"), in modern use it usually refers to a light-hearted form of wit. You would not be wrong to say that someone engages in “cruel banter,” if that is what is intended, but the word is far more often encountered in combination with modifiers such as witty, friendly, or lighthearted.

Examples of banter in a Sentence

Verb the teacher bantered pleasantly, albeit a bit awkwardly, with the students at the school dance Noun I enjoyed hearing their good-natured banter. members of the Algonquin Round Table were known for their brilliant and witty banter

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Trump and Nicklaus III bantered about golf and his grandfather Jack Nicklaus, with his Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, home to the Memorial Tournament, mentioned a couple of times, including as host of the Presidents Cup in 2013. — Randy Ludlow, Cincinnati.com, "Ohio couple, Nicklaus grandson attended Trump dinner in secret recording," 27 Jan. 2020 The general manager, Chris Colvin, knew many of his employees’ names and bantered with them amiably. — Noam Scheiber, New York Times, "Inside an Amazon Warehouse, Robots’ Ways Rub Off on Humans," 3 July 2019 Letter revels in bantering with the judges and is at ease in nerve-racking court sessions of hypothetical, rapid-fire questioning, said Matt Collette, who was Letter’s deputy at the Justice Department. — Washington Post, "In court, he speaks for Speaker Nancy Pelosi," 25 Dec. 2019 Spurs are two points ahead of United in the table at this point, even after getting bantered off by a young Irish lad scoring twice against them on his first Premier League start for Brighton at the weekend. — SI.com, "Manchester United: Who Is to Blame? II," 9 Oct. 2019 Along the way, Meirelles seemingly humanizes the typically stoic religious figures, showing them bantering over herbs in the back of a helicopter and sharing pizza at the Vatican between heated arguments over the future of the church’s leadership. — Joey Nolfi, EW.com, "Anthony Hopkins lights papal feud ablaze in gripping Two Popes trailer," 5 Nov. 2019 At some point, costumed performers appeared onstage and started bantering. — Lizzie Widdicombe, The New Yorker, "The Mysteries of “Baby Shark”," 21 Nov. 2019 Bethel, in his best post-Hart-of-Dixie usage, banters well with Missick and has some dynamic courtroom moments. — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Bluff City Law' and 'All Rise': TV Reviews," 23 Sep. 2019 Dylan was also seen working on music with Johnny Cash, and, looking and sounding strung out, bantering nonsensically with John Lennon in the back of a car in London. — Hillel Italie, BostonGlobe.com, "Oscar-winning documentary maker D.A. Pennebaker dies at 94," 3 Aug. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun With their clashing allegiances, the two don’t engage in much basketball banter online. — Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, "Brad Stevens has a direct connection to M. Night Shyamalan," 31 Jan. 2020 Hunter’s Timon tends more toward rough playfulness, interacting with the audience in the front rows with some edgy but not too disquieting banter, and getting laughs by inveigling the unctuous Painter into eating worms. — Geoffrey O’brien, The New York Review of Books, "A Timon for Our Time," 29 Jan. 2020 That means lots of explosions, lots of comedic banter and more explosions from directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah as well as writers Chris Bremner, Peter Craig and Joe Carnahan. — Chris Thilk, The Hollywood Reporter, "Sony Aims to Spark 'Bad Boys' Revival With Sequel Marketing," 17 Jan. 2020 Durst kept a fairly low profile, but Sawa endeared himself to Alabama folks on social media, engaging in banter, answering questions and praising the state via Twitter. — Mary Colurso | Mcolurso@al.com, al, "Movie filmed in Birmingham is worst of the year?," 11 Dec. 2019 Feel free to follow along with the action or join in the banter with our readers. — Joey Yashinsky, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan football score vs. Notre Dame: Live blog updates," 26 Oct. 2019 Perhaps a studio show will cursorily address it in some pregame/postgame banter. — Tom Hoffarth, Los Angeles Times, "LeBron James and China isn’t a topic game broadcasters are eager to discuss," 20 Oct. 2019 In my dreams, each conversation would be relaxed yet informative, full of banter and wild ideas. — Quanta Magazine, "Why I’m Hosting The Joy of x Podcast," 15 Jan. 2020 Maybe the girl should learn the art of self-deprecating banter or rephrase her paranoia as a rap. — Kyle Smith, National Review, "Greta Thunberg Is a Joke," 8 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'banter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.