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
-
Keen home cook Erin Patterson hosted an intimate meal in July 2023 that started with good-natured banter and earnest prayer — but ended with three guests dead.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
7 July 2025
-
Directed and co-written by Shane Black, who made a name for himself with other smart-alecky films like the aforementioned Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and 2013's Iron Man 3, the film crackles with wise-guy banter and rich atmosphere.—
Sarah Sprague,
EW.com,
2 July 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
-
The Republican governor even poked a light joke at the energy surrounding the teams during his opening remarks.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
11 July 2025
-
Sriram peppers her debut with offbeat characters, sometimes giving them names that are jokes in and of themselves.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
11 July 2025
Noun
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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
-
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
Noun
-
During the day out, the two took a dip in the pool and appeared to share laughs throughout the day.—
Starr Bowenbank,
People.com,
11 July 2025
-
The two had several tough plays against one another, and shared plenty of laughs on the court.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
11 July 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
-
Indeed, instructors often understand the Socratic principle – that there needs to be an active give-and-take and back-and-forth between a teacher and a student, or between two other partners, that feeds a certain kind of productivity.—
John Werner,
Forbes.com,
1 July 2025
-
Stage a give-and-take session with your team members.—
John Baldoni,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
Noun
-
Her warmth and humor and affection stayed hidden behind a wall of invulnerability.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
30 June 2025
-
Builders are reclaiming their contexts, their humor, their memories.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Badinage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/badinage. Accessed 16 Jul. 2025.
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