pleasantry
Americannoun
plural
pleasantries-
good-humored teasing; banter.
-
a humorous or jesting remark.
-
a courteous social remark used to initiate or facilitate a conversation.
to exchange pleasantries.
-
a humorous action.
noun
-
(often plural) an agreeable or amusing remark, often one made in order to be polite
they exchanged pleasantries
-
an agreeably humorous manner or style
-
rare enjoyment; pleasantness
a pleasantry of life
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.
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
It wasn’t a pleasantry, she really needed to know.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
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.
