banter
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Friendly, playful teasing talk.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
banterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbæntɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
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).
verb
Be silly or tease one another
transitive
To tease (someone) mildly.
transitive
To delude or trick; to play a prank upon.
intransitive
To play or do something amusing.
transitive
To joke about; to ridicule (a trait, habit, etc.).
intransitive
To engage in banter or playful conversation.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Sharp, good-humoured, playful, typically spontaneous conversation.
Used this way, banter is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. Keep it for friendly, informal settings.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Playful
- Usage feel
- Playful and informal
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.