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To tweak a well-known line from Hamlet, brevity is the soul of quip. While jokes are often brief stories with setups followed by surprising and funny endings (chickens crossing roads, elephant footprints in the butter, etc.) quips are even briefer, and not so planned or scripted. They are more likely to arise naturally in conversation when someone is especially quick-witted, firing off zingers, retorts, or—if you want to get extra fancy about it—bon mots. Brevity also plays a role in quip's etymology: quip is a shortening of quippy, a now-obsolete noun of the same meaning. Quippy's origins are uncertain, but they may lie in the Latin word quippe, meaning "indeed" or "to be sure," which was often used ironically. Quip entered English as a noun in the 1500s, but was verbified within decades; the verb quip means "to make quips" or "to jest or jibe at."
Examples of quip in a Sentence
Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 May 2025
But Sorensen’s line won’t be forgotten, and as Everton continue to venture into their new and seemingly brighter The Friedkin Group era, Sorensen’s quip might yet prove prescient.
—Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 May 2025
Stacy Lambe, People.com, 14 May 2025
One of the school’s most prominent sports alumni, ESPN writer Dan Wetzel, has quipped about merging rosters with UConn.
—Matt Baker, New York Times, 14 May 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Quip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quip. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
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quip
1 of 2 nounquip
2 of 2 verb
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