Repartee vs Banter - What's the difference?
repartee | banter |
A swift, witty reply, especially one that is amusing.
* 1919 ,
* 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby-Dick)
A conversation marked by a series of witty retorts.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
To reply with a
* {{quote-book, year=1862, author=Various, section=Vol. 2 No 4, title=The Continental Monthly, chapter=, edition=
, passage=Aubrey speaks of him as 'incomparable at reparteeing , the bull that was bayted, his witt beinge most sparkling, when most set on and provoked.' }}
To have a (conversation marked by repartees)
* {{quote-book, year=1913, author=Gouverneur Morris, title=The Penalty, chapter=, edition=
, passage=To see them together, friendly, reparteeing , chummy, would turn your stomach--Barbara so exquisite and high-born, and the man, his eyes full of evil fires, sitting like a great toad on the model's chair. }}
Good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.
To engage in banter or playful conversation.
To play or do something amusing.
To tease (someone) mildly.
* Washington Irving
* Charlotte Brontë
To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.).
* Chatham
To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.
* Daniel De Foe
(transitive, US, Southern and Western, colloquial) To challenge to a match.
As nouns the difference between repartee and banter
is that repartee is a swift, witty reply, especially one that is amusing while banter is good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.As verbs the difference between repartee and banter
is that repartee is to reply with a repartee while banter is to engage in banter or playful conversation.repartee
English
Noun
(en noun)- A slight smile broke on his lips. ¶ "You are always prepared to sacrifice your principles for a repartee ," he answered.
- Yet habit—strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?—Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, and brighter repartees , you never heard over your mahogany
Synonyms
* See alsoVerb
citation
citation
Anagrams
* *banter
English
Noun
(-)- It seemed like I'd have to listen to her playful banter for hours.
Verb
(en verb)- Hag-ridden by my own fancy all night, and then bantered on my haggard looks the next day.
- Mr. Sweeting was bantered about his stature—he was a little man, a mere boy in height and breadth compared with the athletic Malone
- If they banter' your regularity, order, and love of study, ' banter in return their neglect of them.
- We diverted ourselves with bantering several poor scholars with hopes of being at least his lordship's chaplain.
