Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Casual or trivial conversation.
Wiktionary
- n. Idle conversation, typically on innocuous or unimportant subjects, usually engaged in at social gatherings out of politeness.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. light or trifling conversation; chitchat.
WordNet 3.0
- n. light informal conversation for social occasions
Examples
“Since her mother's death she had been her father's hostess and could converse with people from other planets with aplomb, handling small talk of a large dinner party with gracious efficiency in three languages.”
Citizen Of The Galaxy
“The truth is, that just as the iambics of Greek drama were lifted above ordinary conversation, so Shakespeare's language, being the language mainly of poetic and romantic drama, is a little more measured and, if you will, more pompous than the small talk of everyday life, which seems to us, accustomed as we are to prose plays, more natural.”
The Man Shakespeare
“He did his best and even acquired facility in the half-insulting small talk of his age group.”
Citizen Of The Galaxy
“The temporary, and afterward the permanent organization, was finished on the first day, with somewhat less than usual of the wordy and tantalizing small talk which these routine proceedings always call forth.”
A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln
“In the morning making small talk in bed, I told Kate I had gone out with her DJ friend.”
Fictionaut: Using Mini-Golf as a Metaphor for the Shortcomings in My Love Life
“As we made small talk about the events in the world of golf during the summer, I glanced around Teddy's pro shop.”
Hacker - Death at the Member-Guest
“He, as well as Madam de Broglie, was a master of all the modish and fashionable small talk jargon of Paris.”
The Confessions of J J Rousseau
“You may suppose the small talk which takes place between him and Lucifer upon these matters is not quite canonical.”
Life of Lord Byron With His Letters And Journals
“Possibly it was the general sombreness of events that caused these British statesmen to find a certain relief in jocular small talk and reminiscence.”
The Life and Letters of Walter H Page
“He made gentle small talk with Aunt Emily, listened knowledgeably to her father's bibliophilism, reminded her that they had a busy day on the morrow, and took his leave.”
Two Weeks To Remember
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘small talk’.
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Things I detest
lies, liars, idiocy, ignorance, superficiality, promiscuity, balloons, yellow, pink, socializing, norms, common sense and 42 more...
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TN5 Lesson 53
story, once upon a time, coal, white, wing, shine, shone, all over, miss, beginning, storyteller, such and 10 more...
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Escalation
A meeting of minds and emotions and fists
melee, riot, rumble, brawl, free-for-all, pandemonium, fray, fracas, a row and a ruction, tussle, ruckus, rumpus and 33 more...
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Hit list
vomitorium, fainthearted, bigotry, clusterfuck, time, crepuscular, upchuck, unbosomed, buffoon, omnibus, zealot, crime and 21 more...
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Worldist
huzzah, foo, bar, unfuggled, celerity, tinny, tall pole in the ..., anathema, eel's broth, how come, whole nuther, roughhouse and 52 more...


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