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• small talk
  small talk

  noun

  light conversation; chitchat.
• small-talk
  small-talk

  verb (used without object)

  to engage in or have a propensity for small talk.

small talk

¹ American  

noun

1. light conversation; chitchat.

   Synonyms:

   gossip, chatter, banter

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small-talk ² American  

[smawl-tawk] / ˈsmɔlˌtɔk /

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in or have a propensity for small talk.

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small talk British  

noun

1. light conversation for social occasions

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small talk Idioms  

1. Casual or trivial conversation, chitchat, as in We stood around making small talk until the guest of honor arrived. The small in this expression alludes to unimportant subjects of conversation, as opposed to serious or weighty ones. [Mid-1700s]

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Etymology

Origin of small talk¹

First recorded in 1745–55

Origin of small-talk²

First recorded in 1780–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

small talk small-talk

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

The rapprochement usually starts out small, maybe with a text message here or there or small talk at a family event.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

For years, people have been frustrated and exhausted by the seemingly endless amount of swiping and small talk that go nowhere on dating apps.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026

But what do we lose when small talk disappears?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

I lost interest in making small talk with my mom or the friends who’d stopped in.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

You might save yourself from a life filled with small-talk with hired guns who were trained to speak to you in short sentences.

From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2025

It was the perfect analogy to our tech-driven, capitalist, corporate society where meetings, office small-talk and bureaucracy often feel like they can drain us of our life force.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024

They responded with small-talk classics like “Where are you from?”

From Washington Post ● Oct. 13, 2021

I defaulted to the kind of small-talk schlock that generally flops with bus drivers and baristas.

From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2019

We small-talk between pockets of silence, but it’s strange.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

Related Words

• blather
• chatter
• chitchat
• pleasantry