- a quick, witty reply
- a series of such rejoinders
- skill in making witty replies
Origin of repartee
French repartie, feminine past participle of repartir, to return quickly a thrust or a blow, reply from re-, back + partir (L partire), to part
The repartee between the hosts of the show is effortless because they have been working together for many years.
Repartee is fast-paced, witty conversation.
Fast-paced dialogue between hosts of a great, clever and funny talk show is an example of repartee.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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repartee
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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repartee
noun
- A swift, witty reply.
- Conversation marked by the exchange of witty retorts.
Origin of repartee
French repartie from feminine past participle of repartir to retort from Old French to retort, to depart again re- re- partir to depart ( from Latin partīre to divide ) ( from pars part- part ; see perə-2 in Indo-European roots.)THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"Repartee." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Repartee.
APA Style
Repartee. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Repartee
Noun
(plural repartees)
Verb
(third-person singular simple present repartees, present participle reparteeing, simple past and past participle reparteed)
- To reply with a repartee
- To have a repartee (conversation marked by repartees)
Anagrams
- pear tree
- repeater
Origin
From French repartie, deverbal of repartir (“to retort")
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"Repartee." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Repartee.
APA Style
Repartee. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Repartee
Sentence Examples
- Aries loves witty repartee that has a tinge of underlying sexual tension, so don’t be afraid to unload a few double entrendres with this sign.
- Encounters at the supermarket, even chats among colleagues turn into fun moments of repartee.
- The final aspect of coming up with sweet and witty repartee is the most tricky, because it is not always the easiest skill to learn.
- She was enjoying the challenge and their repartee.
- Dean ignored her repartee.
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