punner
Plays with words
A punner is someone who makes puns—wordplay that exploits multiple meanings or similar-sounding words for humorous effect.
The term is straightforward but somewhat uncommon; people more often say He's always making puns than He's a punner.
Serial punners are either beloved or reviled by their companions, rarely anything in between.
Verbal wit techniques
- jokesterHabitual humor-maker
- witClever, inventive humor
- quipsterPerson known for cleverness
- comedianProfessional humor performer
double entendre · groan-worthy · dad joke · wisecracker · one-liner · clever · play on words · humor
Identically pronounced, differently spelled word
- homonymWord with twin sound
- double meaningOne phrase, two senses
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
- etymologyWord origin study
semantics · lexical · wordsmith · malapropism · paronomasia · equivoque · polysemy · language
Elizabethan dramatist and poet
- spoonerismAccidental sound transposition
- portmanteauWord combining two others
- epigramPithy, memorable saying
- aphorismTerse general truth
Oscar Wilde · James Joyce · Finnegans Wake · Lewis Carroll · satirist · rhetoric · wordcraft · bon mot
wordplay
Verbal wit techniques
comedian · double entendre · groan-worthy · dad joke · wisecracker · one-liner · clever · play on words · humor · comic
homophone
Identically pronounced, differently spelled word
- homonymWord with twin sound
- double meaningOne phrase, two senses
- ambiguityOpenness to multiple interpretations
etymology · semantics · lexical · wordsmith · malapropism · paronomasia · equivoque · polysemy · language · verbal
Shakespeare
Elizabethan dramatist and poet
- spoonerismAccidental sound transposition
- portmanteauWord combining two others
- epigramPithy, memorable saying
Oscar Wilde · James Joyce · Finnegans Wake · Lewis Carroll · aphorism · satirist · rhetoric · wordcraft · bon mot · repartee
punnerstraight talker
One who communicates directly
literalist · straight shooter · pedant · deadpan · technical writer
punnerphysical comedian
Performer using bodily humor
slapstick comic · straight man · deadpan comic · mime · clown