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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Light, playful banter.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. Light playful banter or raillery.
  2. n. Synonyms Raillery, banter.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Playful raillery; banter.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Playful raillery; banter.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. frivolous banter

Etymologies

  1. French, from badin, joker, from Provençal badar, to gape, from Latin *batāre.

Examples

  • “In describing a scene in which sexist badinage is exchanged at an account meeting, McLean correctly points out that “the series is critical of this limited view and is not afraid to spell [its criticism] out.””

    Mad About Mad Men

  • “I stipulate that this sounded idiotic, but when you are facing a large and menacing Viking, badinage is the first casualty.”

    One of Our Whales Is Missing

  • “Similarly, with "badinage" - the phonetic meaning comes out as "bad in age" - memory, sex, teeth.”

    Archive 2008-04-01

  • “But instead of joining what Charmian termed the badinage, the psychoanalysts remained aloof.”

    Simon & Schuster: Fleur De Leigh’s Life of Crime

  • “Other agendas obviously have been at work, as witnessed by the badinage last week between London's colorful Mayor Boris Johnson and his Labour predecessor, Kenneth "Red Ken" Livingstone, over who broke bread more often with Murdoch employees.”

    The Wall Street Journal: A British Watergate?

  • “Where circumstances demand male badinage, he can keep his end up "What's the most times you've done it in one night?”

    The Guardian: A Man of Parts by David Lodge – review

  • “Within moments, they're lost in the badinage of two people on the brink of something big.”

    The Washington Post: Ann Hornaday reviews 'The Adjustment Bureau,' an ambitious, impressive thriller

  • “Now its finished, I can relax and enjoy the banter, badinage and education that will come over the next 23 hours... wonder where today's trail will go?”

    The Guardian: Quick crossword No 12,700

  • “That sort of thing is fairly typical of the conservative style of badinage, in fact, and is arguably far more defamatory than the comment I excised.”

    Archive 2009-09-01

  • “In Batman and Me Bob Kane, who was really at his best in funny comics, wrote: "Robin lightened up the mood of the strip and he and Batman would engage in punning and badinage as they defeated their adversaries.”

    Reasons for Robin, #8

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Lists

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Comments

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  • tumbel "Strahs and the actors are shitting us all the time with this clipped badinage..." TONY theater review Mar 19, 2010
  • sionnach Is persiflage ever not airy? Jun 30, 2009
  • yarb Only unintentionally, I think. Poor writing by Ludlum there. Jun 30, 2009
  • rolig Is badinage ever consequential? Jun 30, 2009
  • bilby "The badinage was inconsequential, reduced to who knew whom and wasn't the weather glorious in St. Tropez, or the Bahamas, Hawaii, or Hong Kong?"
    - Robert Ludlum, 'The Matarese Countdown'. Jun 30, 2009
  • tolland I love how this word sounds. Jul 13, 2008

‘badinage’ has been looked up 2274 times, loved by 2 people, added to 69 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 12.