as in badinage
good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks
Luke had to put up with a lot of raillery from his sister the first time he asked a girl for a date
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of raillery
With time, their caustic raillery transforms into sincere attachment.
—
Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 13 May 2021
French’s evocation of place, a rural way of life and overall creepiness are superb, as is the dialogue, a festival of Irish raillery and repartee.
—Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2020
Some may feel, in this Trumpus Caesar summer, that such raillery, let alone the underlying idea of trying to understand why Americans have shot presidents, is an untoward or trite provocation.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 13 July 2017
Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 13 May 2021
French’s evocation of place, a rural way of life and overall creepiness are superb, as is the dialogue, a festival of Irish raillery and repartee.
—Washington Post, 14 Oct. 2020
Some may feel, in this Trumpus Caesar summer, that such raillery, let alone the underlying idea of trying to understand why Americans have shot presidents, is an untoward or trite provocation.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 13 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for raillery
Noun
-
In The Kitchen, Wesker tracked the decorum from friendly badinage to hostile vernacular that co-workers sustain just to get through the day.—
Armond White,
National Review,
30 Oct. 2024
-
While Hawley hasn’t left behind any of his signature philosophical dialogue or memorable badinage, Season 5 is also the most reliant on the camera to make its points.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
13 Aug. 2024
Noun
-
In a bit role, Morgan McGhee delivers big laughs with her loopy take as a newscaster.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
8 Apr. 2025
-
The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast co-host was spotted sharing a laugh with his daughter Mia and his niece Savannah Phillips on Christmas at Sandringham in December 2024, joining the royals for church on the holiday.—
Janine Henni,
People.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Meanwhile, Corden, as the event’s emcee, made some uncomfortable jokes about the Dow dropping 2200 points last Friday.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
7 Apr. 2025
-
These jokes referenced economic news of the past week.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
With a kind of theater vérité, Cromer fills the monochromatic bunker of a set with a large — the cast numbers 21 — and mostly male ensemble, all bustling about with myriad tasks amid overlapping dialogue and banter.—
Frank Rizzo,
Variety,
4 Apr. 2025
-
And while fans love their cheeky banter on Live with Kelly and Mark, even more hilarious are the thirsty comments Kelly often sends in her hubby's direction.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
People.com,
30 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
For her performance, Clarkson sported a Buffalo Bills jacket — a nod to that day’s guest, Hailee Steinfeld, who is engaged to quarterback Josh Allen — and kept her vocal arrangement free of any of her signature high notes or riffs, letting the humor of Crow’s lyrics speak for itself.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
9 Apr. 2025
-
The role sees Williams’s character balancing humor and tragedy up until her final moments.—
Lexi Carson,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
For all his entertaining repartee, Hedges is keenly aware of when to lock in.—
Ken Rosenthal,
The Athletic,
25 Feb. 2025
-
Ally and Jay are both sarcastic, too — their best lines are muttered under their breaths — and their repartee becomes more interesting than the bloody theatrics.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
All four players had fond memories of the tournament, with Dostál offering a bit of good-natured ribbing toward Pastrnak and recalling not only his triumph of 2024 but his first experience in 2022, when his tournament was truncated by an injury.—
Andrew Knoll,
Oc Register,
25 Mar. 2025
-
Trump’s playful and public ribbing of one of the world’s most prominent media moguls underscored the years-long on-again, off-again relationship between the president and publishing tycoon, one that political and media observers told The Hill this week has reached a critical new stage.—
Dominick Mastrangelo,
The Hill,
9 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
That’s where Quaker parenting has stepped in for me, providing a simple way to separate the wheat from the child-development chaff.—
Gail Cornwall,
The Atlantic,
3 Apr. 2025
-
In French air force service, the Mirage 2000-5F flies with a combination of a Serval radar warning receiver, a Sabre jammer and an Eclair chaff and flare dispenser.—
David Axe,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Raillery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/raillery. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share