Word of the Day

: May 26, 2018

riposte

noun rih-POHST

What It Means

1 : a fencer's quick return thrust following a parry

2 : a retaliatory verbal sally : retort

3 : a retaliatory maneuver or measure

riposte in Context

"A riposte to the stuffy awards shows in music-industry centers like Los Angeles and New York, the impetus behind the Bay Area Music Awards was to play it fast, loose and irreverent." — Aidin Vaziri, The San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Mar. 2018

"Director Phyllida Lloyd delivers a riposte to the idea that cinema derived from theatre is somehow a static, inflexible affair with her vital all-female production of Julius Caesar." — Screen International, 25 June 2017

Did You Know?

In the sport of fencing, a riposte is a counterattack made after successfully fending off one's opponent. English speakers borrowed the name for this particular maneuver from French in the early 1700s, but the French had simply modified Italian risposta, which literally means "answer." Ultimately these words come from the Latin verb respondēre, meaning "to respond." It seems fitting that riposte has since come full circle to now refer to a quick and witty response performed as a form of retaliation.