banter.
Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.
Meaning & usage
Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.
Good-humoured bits of monologue and/or conversational prompts used in any of a wide range of occupations that must frequently interact with the public (for example, store clerks, salespersons, nurses).
Where this word comes from
1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."
To engage in banter or playful conversation.
To play or do something amusing.
To tease (someone) mildly.
To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.).
To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.
To challenge to a match.
To haggle; cheapen the price.
Where this word comes from
1670s as verb, 1680s as noun. The origin is unknown, possibly from London street slang; ostensibly as *bant + -er (frequentative suffix). Possibly an Anglo-Gaelicism from the Irish bean (“woman”), so that "banter" means "talk of women."
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.