: good-natured and usually witty and animated joking
listening to their lively banter
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Banter refers to a form of jesting or to the act of exchanging joking repartee. Although the word once meant “ridicule,” and though it has a regional sense "a challenge or dare" (as in, "he performed a banter [or banner], jumping from the roof onto the snowbank"), in modern use it usually refers to a light-hearted form of wit. You would not be wrong to say that someone engages in “cruel banter,” if that is what is intended, but the word is far more often encountered in combination with modifiers such as witty, friendly, or lighthearted.
Verb the teacher bantered pleasantly, albeit a bit awkwardly, with the students at the school dance Noun I enjoyed hearing their good-natured banter. members of the Algonquin Round Table were known for their brilliant and witty banter
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Or, in the case of Friday night, pulled off stage banter with hilarious hubris. Eric Heisig, cleveland, 20 Aug. 2022 Anyone who has worked in professional spaces knows that casual spaces/times (e.g. banter at the beginning of a call, break room talk, training class/conference downtime, etc.) are anything but inconsequential. Dana Brownlee, Forbes, 9 June 2022 Allyson Kaye Daniel is an elegant and welcome presence as Abigail Adams, who periodically materializes to banter with, and sometimes instruct, her husband. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 3 June 2022 The decision came just after Jackson Reffitt's political disagreements and banter over text with his father escalated after the election in 2020. Katelyn Polantz, CNN, 3 Mar. 2022 Team building can happen anywhere your team can interact with one another and banter about anything other than work. James Mayo, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2022 The four cutters — three men and one woman — banter with one another and their clients, talking on topics ranging from the advisability of keeping a land line telephone to why some people remain unvaccinated. Richard A. Marini, San Antonio Express-News, 24 Jan. 2022 During the stage banter between sets, BTS mostly stuck to English. Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Dec. 2021 As the episode ends, Clint and Kate banter about Kate's codename. Chancellor Agard, EW.com, 22 Dec. 2021
Noun
On this episode: This week, after some early banter on the new statement jerseys, the fellas go deep on what the Pistons' starting lineup and 10-man rotation looks like. Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press, 13 Sep. 2022 Bar the odd bit of crass anti-gay banter among the students, the subject hardly comes up. Guy Lodge, Variety, 9 Sep. 2022 In the 1970s, having decided to write a play together, Andy Warhol and Truman Capote recorded their private conversations in hopes of turning that banter between friends into something meant for the stage. The Editors, Town & Country, 9 Sep. 2022 At his best moments, Weinberg’s boyishness and penchant for banter could put Bidwell at ease and keep her laughing. Samuel Braslow, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Sep. 2022 Amid the drama, 26-year-old Gravy began flirting with Easterling on an episode of the Jeff FM podcast as well as in a number of TikTok videos, and the unexpected duo have a playful banter on social media to this day. Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 29 Aug. 2022 It’s accompanied by that big, wide smile and that knowing look, suggesting both a wry wit and a willingness to banter.New York Times, 15 June 2022 That produces lots of banter, bickering and unfortunately, pants wetting, a natural if low-brow response to the new-to-him prospect of getting killed. Brian Lowry, CNN, 12 Aug. 2022 The guilt trips, the relationships, the constant banter, the proving, and the bickering between our parents. Sara Tan, refinery29.com, 5 Aug. 2022 See More