raillery

American  

[rey-luh-ree] / ˈreɪ lə ri /

noun

plural

railleries

1. good-humored ridicule; banter.

   Synonyms:

   pleasantry, chaff, badinage

2. a bantering remark.

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raillery British  

/ ˈreɪlərɪ /

noun

1. light-hearted satire or ridicule; banter

2. an example of this, esp a bantering remark

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Etymology

Origin of raillery

1645–55; < French raillerie, equivalent to Middle French raill ( er ) to rail ² + -erie -ery

Example Sentences

The first Shakespearean phrase I underlined during this period was “skirmish of wit,” about the raillery between Beatrice and Benedick, which inspired a lifelong expectation that romance must include snark.

From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2021

Some of the raillery, while funny, feels like overkill.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2017

Advertisement Advertisement Often, though, their teasing doesn’t feel different from the family raillery of many a sitcom.

From New York Times • Aug. 9, 2015

Old pals, they knew each other’s foibles and weaknesses all too well and exploited them in an ongoing raillery of inside jokes, ragging, and general good-natured BS.

From Salon • Sep. 8, 2013

I saw their eyes bespeaking confusion at this raillery, sorrow to hear our liberator mocked thus, and anxiety at what His Lordship’s uncertainty might mean.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson