as in banter
good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks
the sophisticated badinage of the characters in plays by Oscar Wilde
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Recent Examples of badinage
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
While Hawley hasn’t left behind any of his signature philosophical dialogue or memorable badinage, Season 5 is also the most reliant on the camera to make its points.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 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
The music is in the badinage.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Dec. 2020
But also present are Heyer’s wry humor and deftness in witty badinage.
—Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2022
The film, directed with an alluring blend of badinage and upper-crust sensuality by Emma Holly Jones, is based on a novel by Suzanne Allain (who wrote the screenplay), which was published in 2020 and designed to be a playful riff on Jane Austen.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 July 2022
The banality of Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s adapted script suggests satire, yet the film is fairly humorless, despite the musicians’ profane badinage.
—Armond White, National Review, 1 Jan. 2021
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
While Hawley hasn’t left behind any of his signature philosophical dialogue or memorable badinage, Season 5 is also the most reliant on the camera to make its points.
—Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 13 Aug. 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
The music is in the badinage.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Dec. 2020
But also present are Heyer’s wry humor and deftness in witty badinage.
—Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2022
The film, directed with an alluring blend of badinage and upper-crust sensuality by Emma Holly Jones, is based on a novel by Suzanne Allain (who wrote the screenplay), which was published in 2020 and designed to be a playful riff on Jane Austen.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 July 2022
The banality of Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s adapted script suggests satire, yet the film is fairly humorless, despite the musicians’ profane badinage.
—Armond White, National Review, 1 Jan. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for badinage
Noun
-
In their interactions, the show really hits its stride in terms of dialogue and pacing, with sharp banter punctuating serious discussions of existential questions.—
Emily McClanathan,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Aug. 2025
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Over time, however, the need to push back on your thoughts, your excitement, and your harmless opinions can feel less like playful or intellectual banter and more like a quiet effort to dim your spark.—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
With time, their caustic raillery transforms into sincere attachment.—
Charlie Tyson,
The Atlantic,
13 May 2021
-
French’s evocation of place, a rural way of life and overall creepiness are superb, as is the dialogue, a festival of Irish raillery and repartee.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
14 Oct. 2020
Noun
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Aaron Judge had jokes for Giancarlo Stanton after the Yankees’ beat the Braves on July 20, as none of the DH’s three hits in that game were for extra bases.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Make your own jokes about Trump as the face of fitness.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
3 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Balki and cousin Larry slipped right into their old repartee from the beloved ABC sitcom.—
Ryan Coleman Published,
EW.com,
14 July 2025
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His brother Richard Rosenthal is Somebody Feed Phil’s executive producer and showrunner; their on-camera repartee is a golden fan-favorite.—
Laura Manske,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2025
Noun
-
There are a couple of Yates on the tracks [laughs].—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
5 Aug. 2025
-
Pete Davidson takes on that role and is responsible for whatever attempts at laughs there are in this thing.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
4 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
As Nixon’s political strategist, Kevin Phillips, told the New York Times in 1970: All the talk about Republicans making inroads into the Negro vote is persiflage.—
Jane Coaston,
Vox,
12 Oct. 2018
Noun
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Scientific theories about the origin of the universe often involve a vigorous give-and-take between speculation and discovery.—
Sean M. Carroll,
The New York Review of Books,
31 July 2025
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The normal give-and-take of a staff meeting was not his strong suit.—
Michael Barnes,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
Noun
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Despite that apprehension, No Hard Feelings is still a carefree project, filled with humor and levity while touching on the deep universality of love, heartbreak, and new beginnings.—
Julyssa Lopez,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
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Bronstein’s breathless, pressure-cooker visual approach and Byrne’s fearlessly committed performance (which earned her the Silver Bear at this year’s Berlinale) contribute to a full-throttle film that depicts life as a series of never-ending fires—without losing its sense of fanciful humor.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Badinage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/badinage. Accessed 15 Aug. 2025.
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