banter
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.friendly and funny conversation where people joke with each other.
n.good-humoured, playful, and typically spontaneous conversation involving light teasing.
Simple“The friends shared some light banter while they waited for their food to arrive.”
In context“The office environment was characterized by constant witty banter, which helped alleviate the stress of the high-pressure deadlines.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to talk to someone in a friendly and joking way.
v.to engage in playful or witty conversation; to tease someone in a lighthearted manner.
Simple“They spent the whole afternoon bantering about their favorite movies.”
In context“The two presenters bantered effortlessly on stage, making the technical awards ceremony much more entertaining for the audience.”
UsageThe verb is often used with the preposition 'with' or 'about'.
“They are old friends and banter over the “ice cold” celebration.”
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."
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.