banter

1 of 2

verb

ban·​ter ˈban-tər 

bantered; bantering; banters

transitive verb

1

: to speak to or address in a witty and teasing manner

She laughed and bantered him a little, remembering too late that she should have been dignified and reserved.

—Kate Chopin

2

archaic : delude

3

chiefly Southern US and Midland US : challenge

intransitive verb

: to speak or act playfully or wittily

The two friends bantered with each other.

banterer

ˈban-tər-ər 

noun

banteringly

ˈban-tə-riŋ-lē 

adverb

banter

2 of 2

noun

: good-natured and usually witty and animated joking

listening to their lively banter

Did you know?

Can banter be vicious?

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.

Synonyms

Verb

• chaff
• fool
• fun
• gag
• jape
• jest
• jive
• joke
• jolly
• josh
• kid
• quip
• wisecrack
• yuk [slang]
• yuck

Noun

• backchat
• badinage
• chaff
• give-and-take
• jesting
• joshing
• persiflage
• raillery
• repartee

Examples of banter in a Sentence

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

Musk bantered back in what most observers assumed was a joke. —Benjamin Svetkey and Julian Sancton, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2024

When a public figure sits across from a podcast host to embark on a purportedly shapeless, stream-of-consciousness chat suffused with crude jokes and senseless tangents, an odd alchemy occurs: the speakers begin to sound like pals bantering at a pre-game, with the listener as a silent confidant. —Brady Brickner-Wood, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2024

Noun

The banter in the green rooms before and after a show are core memories that all of us comics will treasure forever. —Christian Holub, EW.com, 6 Dec. 2024

Coming in early 2025, Liese's Once Smitten, Twice Shy is a reimagining of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and promises a story filled with banter, a bit of spice and a deeply healing, soft love. —Lizz Schumer, People.com, 27 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

of obscure origin

Noun

noun derivative of banter entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1653, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

1660, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

banter

1 of 2 verb

ban·​ter ˈbant-ər 

: to speak in a friendly but teasing or witty way

banterer

-ər-ər 

noun

banteringly

ˈbant-ə-riŋ-lē 

adverb

banter

2 of 2 noun

: good-natured teasing or joking