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
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
The result is a system that favors cable-ready wisecracks and viral badinage over substantive policy discussions.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 31 July 2020
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
The result is a system that favors cable-ready wisecracks and viral badinage over substantive policy discussions.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 31 July 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for badinage
Noun
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Like tall tales told around a campfire or a night of barstool banter, the album weaves together a collection of three-minute stories inspired by the people and places the band knows best.—
Matthew Leimkuehler,
Forbes.com,
23 Apr. 2025
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Screenwriter Dubuque clearly enjoyed writing reams of banter for Affleck and Bernthal, though the results have a way of tossing a wrench in the film’s pacing.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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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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Dave Chappelle roasted Donald Trump for taking over as chairman of the Kennedy Center—weeks after a past joke about the president went newly viral on social media.—
Jack Royston,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 May 2025
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Joy Behar landed in hot water when a joke about a decades-old scandal fell flat.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
1 May 2025
Noun
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Most voters are worried about high prices for food, energy and housing, rather than their leader’s Oval Office repartee.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
30 Mar. 2025
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For all his entertaining repartee, Hedges is keenly aware of when to lock in.—
Ken Rosenthal,
The Athletic,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Jillian Bell's raunchy directorial debut is supplying the laughs this summer.—
Tommy McArdle,
People.com,
30 Apr. 2025
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Fans can also look forward to performances by the iconic Silver Spurs Quadrille, the adorable antics of kids competing in Mutton Bustin’, and plenty of laughs courtesy of the ever-entertaining rodeo clowns.—
Joe Rassel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2025
Noun
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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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Read: Cory Booker, endurance athlete Here is another tactic that makes sense for political give-and-take within a democracy, but not as a means of fighting for democracy’s life: picking your battles.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
17 Apr. 2025
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The United States cannot guarantee success in sensitive international negotiations in advance, least of all when a court imposes an absurdly compressed, mandatory deadline that vastly complicates the give-and-take of foreign-relations negotiations.—
Laura Romero,
ABC News,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Instead of shaping stories that convince, craft absorbing narratives that evoke raw emotion—humor, suspense, passion, disgust and even fear.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
21 Apr. 2025
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Like a Dickensian Andy Capp, Johnson is an uber-charming rogue, an everyman bluesy belter whose winking humor with a hint of the scoundrel are not entirely unlike Scott’s demeanor, though each man’s vocals, inflection and stage presence are/were clearly their own.—
Katherine Turman,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Badinage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/badinage. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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