Word of the DayTuesday, December 28, 2004

raillery

\RAY-luh-ree\ , noun:
1.
Good-humored banter or teasing.
2.
An instance of good-humored teasing; a jest.
Quotes:
I moved from one knot of people to another, surrounded by a kind of envious respect because of Sophie's interest in me, although subjected to a certain mordant raillery from some of this witty company.
-- Peter Brooks, World Elsewhere
Her raillery and mockery are fun -- but ultimately rather tiring, and tiresome.
-- Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, "Eastward Ho!" review of Shards of Memory, by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, New York Times, September 17, 1995
Origin:
Raillery is from French raillerie, from Old French railler, "to tease, to mock."
Get Word of the Day
Free Email Sign Up
Other Delivery Options:
SMS-Text WDAY to 44636.
Standard messaging rates apply
RSS
Facebook
iPhone
Twitter
Widget
Spanish