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
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
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
But also present are Heyer’s wry humor and deftness in witty badinage.
—Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2022
The music is in the badinage.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Dec. 2020
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
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
But also present are Heyer’s wry humor and deftness in witty badinage.
—Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2022
The music is in the badinage.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Dec. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for badinage
Noun
-
In addition to some light-hearted banter between Thia and Dek, the trailer gives viewers a look at the treacherous journey ahead of them.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Nobody Wants This is back for a second season, providing not only good banter, but some pretty deep questions about faith and compatibility.—
NPR,
NPR,
24 Oct. 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
-
Expect conversations that catch you off-guard, and jokes that turn into shocking revelations.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
-
The Special Olympics are not amused after Kid Rock used an ableist slur while making a joke in a recent Fox News interview.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
How did Betty manage the scenes with Ophelia, with their bawdy repartee?—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
-
No one is better built than Leavy, a crafty veteran sportswriter, for between-innings repartee, wry asides, and tossed-off ideas for improving her beloved sport—and maybe even keeping its ever-looming obsolescence at bay for another decade or three.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The piece signals transformation, but the spontaneous laugh turns luxury into connection; by the red-gown reveal, the necklace reads less like a trophy and more like a charm that’s worked.—
Lilah Ramzi,
Vogue,
25 Oct. 2025
-
According to showrunner and executive producer David Mirkin, these laughs sometimes just serve as a tool to make sure the episodes are the correct length for broadcast.—
Grace Dean,
Space.com,
25 Oct. 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
-
While developing promising new SmallSat technologies is a key goal of USTP, so too is building a critical give-and-take between NASA and university researchers.—
Robin Roenker,
USA Today,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Likewise, romantic partners can achieve an easy understanding and practical give-and-take.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Prince Philip’s quick wit and no-nonsense humor were legendary, both inside and outside palace walls.—
Janine Henni,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Even more preoccupied with toilet humor than its predecessor, Scary Movie 2 hauled in substantially less at the box office.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Badinage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/badinage. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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