persiflage

noun

per·si·flage ˈpər-si-ˌfläzh

ˈper-

Synonyms of persiflage next

: frivolous bantering talk : light raillery

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Unwanted persiflage on television might provoke an impatient audience to hiss or boo, but from an etymological standpoint, no other reaction could be more appropriate. English speakers picked up persiflage from French in the 18th century. Its ancestor is the French verb persifler, which means "to banter" and was formed from the prefix per-, meaning "thoroughly," plus siffler, meaning "to whistle, hiss, or boo." Siffler in turn derived from the Latin verb sibilare, meaning "to whistle or hiss." By the way, sibilare is also the source of sibilant, a word linguists use to describe sounds like those made by "s" and "sh" in sash. That Latin root also underlies the verb sibilate, meaning "to hiss" or "to pronounce with or utter an initial sibilant."

Examples of persiflage in a Sentence

their tongue-in-cheek persiflage is sometimes mistaken for an exchange of insults by people who don't know them

Recent Examples on the Web None of this will keep Republicans and conservatives from attacking the reconciliation bill with smoke, mirrors and persiflage. —

Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 10 Aug. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'persiflage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.