riposte
Americannoun
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a quick, sharp return in speech or action; counterstroke.
a brilliant riposte to an insult.
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Fencing. a quick thrust given after parrying a lunge.
verb (used without object)
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ripostes,
present (3rd person singular)
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riposted,
past participle, past
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riposting
present participle
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to make a riposte.
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to reply or retaliate.
noun
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a swift sharp reply in speech or action
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fencing a counterattack made immediately after a successful parry
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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ripostesimple
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ripostessimple
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have ripostedperfect
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has ripostedperfect
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am ripostingprogressive
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are ripostingprogressive
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is ripostingprogressive
-
have been ripostingperfect progressive
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has been ripostingperfect progressive
Past
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ripostedsimple
-
had ripostedperfect
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was ripostingprogressive
-
were ripostingprogressive
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had been ripostingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of riposte
First recorded in 1700–10; from French, variant of risposte “prompt answer,” from Italian risposta, noun use of feminine past participle of rispondere “to answer,” from Vulgar Latin respondere (unrecorded) for Latin respondēre; see respond
Explanation
A riposte is a clever comeback or witty response. Many people can only think of the perfect riposte after the conversation has already moved on, when it's too late to say it! Winston Churchill was famous for his skill with a riposte, like when his friend Lady Astor said that if he were her husband, she'd poison his tea, and he responded, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it!" This kind of quick, funny retort is a classic riposte. Originally, the word riposte came from a French word for a certain kind of lunge in fencing, and it still has this same meaning today.
Vocabulary lists containing riposte
Vocabulary of the Summer Olympics
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The Princess Bride
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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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:
A lot of dyed-in-the-wool activists were turned off by the flippancy of AOC’s riposte, and even with my own recent grappling over the problematic emotional landscape of the movement, I can understand why.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
Responding to the letter, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis called it a "powerful riposte to the hateful extremists who have targeted the Jewish community".
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
In a quiet riposte to this, the king in his speech to Congress will riff on past military endeavors the two countries have undertaken and the sacrifice both nations have made.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
Damodaran wrote a riposte to the Citrini Research paper published last week that was the subject of much scrutiny and controversy.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 5, 2026
A riposte unsettles your opponent, signaling aggression, quickness, and both defensive and offensive power.
From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
If Violet Crawley seasoned her ripostes with a sense of knowing that comes from having broken a few rules herself – confirmed in the second “Downton” movie, by the way – that explained her charm.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2024
Jaffee was also known for a regular segment called Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions, which included sarcastic ripostes to silly questions.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2023
Greer’s wordplay is glorious: He drop-shots puns and ripostes, firing up his prose.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
Listeners on Friday were quick to notice Drake’s apparent ripostes to West.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2021
The answers had come clear, sharp, and distinct, quick ripostes of the foils against the violent attack.
From The Heart of a Woman by Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
Confronted by what the authors call “unrelenting brutality,” when given the chance—for example, after the British riposted in the South from late 1778—this beleaguered minority readily retaliated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
He said a cocky Perce riposted to Shackleton: "I think the crew would get more meat from you Sir!"
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2022
Binyamin Appelbaum, The Times’s economics wiz, riposted on Twitter: “A more accurate characterization of the housing bubble is that it was one of the largest orgies of white collar criminality in American history.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2018
Nonsense, riposted geologist Hugh Miller: only feeble poets are put off by knowledge.
From Nature ● Jul. 5, 2012
And I, for my part, riposted with a glance, which he understood uncommonly well.
From Gobseck by Ellen Marriage
"And it's my business to give a clip 'side o' the 'ed," said Jones, riposting.
From The Gay Adventure A Romance by Richard Bird
She turned this off by riposting lightly, "How much is it safe to trust anybody?"
From Rough-Hewn by Dorothy Canfield
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.
