punning
Playing with words
Punning is making puns—playing on words that sound alike or have multiple meanings.
The activity ranges from sophisticated wordplay to groan-inducing dad jokes: He spent the whole dinner punning on our names.
Someone who puns habitually is a punster, and the adjective punny describes humor that relies on puns.
Joke inducing sighs
- one-linerBrief standalone joke
- wisecrackFlippant clever remark
- quipBrief, clever remark
- jestHumorous remark or act
jape · gag · rib-tickler · corny · cheesy · eye-roll · groan-worthy · silly
Rhetorical use of puns
- play-on-wordsJoke exploiting double meanings
- double-entendreWords with suggestive second meaning
- homophoneIdentically pronounced, differently spelled word
- homonymWord with twin sound
zeugma · equivocation · malapropism · spoonerism · quibble · anagram · palindrome · acrostic
groaner
Joke inducing sighs
jest · jape · gag · rib-tickler · corny · cheesy · eye-roll · groan-worthy · silly · droll
paronomasia
Rhetorical use of puns
- play-on-wordsJoke exploiting double meanings
- double-entendreWords with suggestive second meaning
- homophoneIdentically pronounced, differently spelled word
homonym · zeugma · equivocation · malapropism · spoonerism · quibble · anagram · palindrome · acrostic · portmanteau
clever
Showing mental quickness
banter · wordsmith · ingenuity · innuendo · sarcasm · irony · satire · raillery · facetiousness · drollery
- humorjoke, jokes, joking, comedy, comic
- jokesjokes, joke, one-liners, dad jokes, one-liner
- witticismsquips, witticisms, witticism, bon mots, bon mot
- wordplaypunny, wordplay, word play, play on words, plays on words
- writingwriting, drafting, authors, author, books
- language skillsspeaking, reading, writing, listening, fluent