quip
Americannoun
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quips
plural
verb (used without object)
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quips,
present (3rd person singular)
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quipped,
past participle, past
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quipping
present participle
noun
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a sarcastic or cutting remark; gibe
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a witty or clever saying
a merry quip
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archaic another word for quibble
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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quipsimple
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quipssimple
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have quippedperfect
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has quippedperfect
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am quippingprogressive
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are quippingprogressive
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is quippingprogressive
-
have been quippingperfect progressive
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has been quippingperfect progressive
Past
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quippedsimple
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had quippedperfect
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was quippingprogressive
-
were quippingprogressive
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had been quippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of quip
1525–35; back formation from quippy quip < Latin quippe indeed
Explanation
A quip — a short, witty comment — can be pleasant, wise, or sarcastic, but usually carries an element of humor. A quip is a witty or clever remark that sounds spur-of-the-moment. A successful quip must sound offhand, as though it were an afterthought, even if the speaker has been honing the statement for days. Dorothy Parker was a famous writer known for her quick quips, such as, "The best way to keep children home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant — and let the air out of the tires."
Vocabulary lists containing quip
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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:
And Hull was one of the first on the scene to congratulate Woad, with the quip, "finally got our points didn't we Lottie".
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
My 15-year-old son’s borrowed quip stirred up memories of my father.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
My quip naturally made me recall Donald Trump’s 2015 campaign comment about how he loves the poorly educated.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
The movie works backward from a famous 1961 Eisenhower quip to JFK that attributed his success in Normandy, France, to the Allies having “better meteorologists than the Germans.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Varys looked down on him and sighed, but Littlefinger made a quip.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
The British adventurer makes her acrobatic moves against a background of realistic graphics, complete with her trademark sarcastic quips.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Before their departure, a professor jokingly quips to Dwayne: “I can’t wait to have your child in my class in the year 2014.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
“You’re a walking Crown Heights,” quips a character, unfunnily.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
"When you are in the job nothing is strange," quips one top-flight recruitment chief.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
“Don’t let me talk you into playing chess,” she quips, repeating Asher’s warning he’d given me when I’d first met her.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
“Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t the only scream queen around here,” Hargitay quipped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
Pointing at the painting, which took Murdoch four hours to create, he said: "That's worth thousands of pounds", and quipped he would pay £5,000 for it.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
"My mother was a Democrat and my daddy was a Republican, so I’m a hypocrite," she quipped.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
“It’s good for him to have a place where he’s humbled,” Romer quipped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
In Canada, the prime minister quipped, “Where is Biafra?”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The game proceeds with a largely lighthearted tone, with players quipping about each other’s strategy and businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
He said it was "very early for that question" and offered no further comment, prompting Letts, 60, to raise a laugh by quipping: "I'm the next James Bond."
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
This achievement is all the more remarkable considering that, in the next theater over, Fanning was punching, kicking and quipping in “Predator: Badlands.”
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
Lycett put a post on Instagram two weeks ago quipping that Tyseley's tip was "superior" to one in Kings Norton, prompting hundreds of comments from Brummies about their preferred dumps.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025
It was the meeting-place of the little "quoting, quipping, quaffing" club of fellow-workers in Bohemia; and Lemon, it was explained, had dabbled both in verse and the lighter drama, efforts which were "not half bad."
From The History of "Punch" by M. H. (Marion Harry) Spielmann
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.
