wordplay
[wurd-pley]
- clever or subtle repartee; verbal wit.
- a play on words; pun.
Show More
Origin of wordplay
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
rejoindersarcasmbanterretortpleasantrywordplayfunjokesatirebadinagehumorquipironycomebackriposteanswerwitreplywitticismrailleryExamples from the Web for wordplay
Contemporary Examples
He created a special puzzle for Oprah Winfrey when he appeared on the show to promote the Wordplay documentary about crosswords.
The Crossword Puzzle Turns 100: The ‘King of Crossword’ on Its Strange HistoryKevin Fallon
December 21, 2013
Once again, wordplay and ethnicity wounded an office-seeking Virginia Republican.
The most retweeted messages are those with jests and puns and wordplay—and graffiti.
Occasionally, he would write brief letters to the editor using the name A. Sock, wordplay on “Punch”—his nickname since boyhood.
Wordplay Bradlee could be prolix or pithy, as suited his ends.
Historical Examples
Abbott and he sometimes swerved into wordplay about love; but up to 1820, or thereabouts, the passion was potential merely.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2John Tyndall
wordplay
- verbal wit based on the meanings and ambiguities of words; puns, clever repartee, etc
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for wordplay
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper