pleasantry
Americannoun
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good-humored teasing; banter.
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a humorous or jesting remark.
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a courteous social remark used to initiate or facilitate a conversation.
to exchange pleasantries.
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a humorous action.
noun
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(often plural) an agreeable or amusing remark, often one made in order to be polite
they exchanged pleasantries
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an agreeably humorous manner or style
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rare enjoyment; pleasantness
a pleasantry of life
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pleasantry
1645–55; < French plaisanterie, Old French plesanterie. See pleasant, -ry
Explanation
“It’s so nice to see you.” “Nice weather, yes?” “You look great in that frog costume.” Each of the last three sentences is a pleasantry, a warm and kind-hearted bit of small talk. It’s no accident that the word pleasant is inside pleasantry, since a pleasantry is a simple, polite, and pleasant remark made in a conversation. Pleasantries aren’t that deep — talking about politics or religion might be outside the pleasantry range, but some good-humored chatting never hurt anyone. You might say some pleasantries to a passerby on the street, when you are introduced to someone new, or if your grandmother asks you a question about your dating life.
Vocabulary lists containing pleasantry
March: Book Two
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The Running Dream
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Trifles
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It’s unclear if this is a plea or a pleasantry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Norm doesn’t treat the inquiry — “How’s the world treating you, Norm?” — as perfunctory pleasantry.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2025
Suddenly things that seem kind of nice because they are little dashes of pleasantry in what may be an otherwise sterile work environment are relatively banal in the context of working from home.
From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2022
Murray seemed embarrassed, mumbled some pleasantry, then turned away.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 6, 2019
His initial expression of solicitous pleasantry is replaced first by alarm and then by disdain.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Together for the better part of four decades, L7 did not faff around with small talk and pleasantries: They took the stage and rocked your face off.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
Wiener said she had known Pretti for around five years and would exchange pleasantries with him over the fence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
The interview is utterly anodyne, a doddering exchange of pleasantries and carefully selected humanizing anecdotes.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2025
They share coffee and pleasantries and then open proceedings; the finale of a months-long selection process.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2025
After we exchanged pleasantries, he spoke briefly with Martin Adams and Anatoli Boukreev, who were standing just above Harris and me, waiting to descend the Step.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
