wordplay

[ wurd-pley ]

/ ˈwɜrdˌpleɪ /

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noun

clever or subtle repartee; verbal wit.

a play on words; pun.

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Origin of wordplay

First recorded in 1870–75; word + play

Words nearby wordplay

word of mouth, word order, word painting, word-perfect, word picture, wordplay, word processing, word processor, words, word salad, wordsearch

How to use wordplay in a sentence

The Style Invitational is renowned for all sorts of clever, irreverent humor and wordplay in its almost quarter-century of varied contests.
Get your ’rick rolling: Style Invitational limerick guide|Pat Myers (Empress of The Style Invitational)|June 16, 2021|Washington Post
Hip-hop, with its emphasis on flamboyant wordplay, should be a natural fit for the lyrics-heavy sound of musical theater.
How In the Heights went from a student musical to one of the summer’s biggest movies|Constance Grady|June 11, 2021|Vox
With some cute wordplay, the heroes of “Anthem” are called Freelancers, or Lancers, and wear armor called Javelins.
What ‘Anthem’ got right|Gene Park|February 25, 2021|Washington Post
Waldman overlays her comic situations and satiric conversations with ironic literary allusions and witty wordplay.
How to Get Laid in Brooklyn a la Adelle Waldman’s Nifty Novel of Manners|Tom LeClair|July 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The advice is littered with such headache-inducing wordplay.
Google Glass’s Insane, Terrifying Etiquette Guide|Tim Teeman|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Doubtless stocks new WordPlay Shakespeare program aimed at getting students engaged in Bard via youthful fondness for high tech.
P.J. O’Rourke on Foreign Policy and France, Hold the Swiss|P. J. O’Rourke|January 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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 History|Kevin Fallon|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Once again, wordplay and ethnicity wounded an office-seeking Virginia Republican.
‘Last Supper’ Flap Dredges Up Ken Cuccinelli’s Demons|Lloyd Green|September 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Abbott and he sometimes swerved into wordplay about love; but up to 1820, or thereabouts, the passion was potential merely.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2|John Tyndall

British Dictionary definitions for wordplay

wordplay

/ (ˈwɜːdˌpleɪ) /

noun

verbal wit based on the meanings and ambiguities of words; puns, clever repartee, etc

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

wordplay

Origin of wordplay

Words nearby wordplay

Words related to wordplay

How to use wordplay in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wordplay