witty repartee
Quick verbal sparring
Witty repartee is clever, quick back-and-forth conversation—the exchange of sharp remarks or comebacks between two or more people.
The phrase emphasizes both the speed and the humor of the verbal sparring: Their witty repartee kept the dinner party entertained for hours.
Repartee alone often implies wit, making the phrase somewhat redundant but common nonetheless.
- comebackRecovery after decline
- quipBrief, clever remark
- epigramPithy, memorable saying
- banterPlayful, teasing exchange
- verbal sparringCompetitive witty exchange
retort · trading barbs · wordplay · wit · quick wit · double entendres · rejoinder · bon mot · pun · riposte · cleverness · esprit · quick-thinking · sharpness · sharp tongue · teasing · aphorism · Dorothy Parker
- chatterchat, chatter, chatting, chitchat, chit-chat
- Shakespeare elementsiambic pentameter, soliloquy, blank verse, aside, couplet