Quip Meaning
/kwɪp/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA smart, sarcastic turn or jest; a taunt; a severe retort or comeback; a gibe.
verbTo make a quip.
Sentence Examples
That quip was just not funny enough.
That was a funny quip.
CEFR Practice Quiz
His clever and funny ____ made everyone laugh during the meeting.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He delivered a sharp ____ that made the entire room laugh and defused the tension instantly.
Word Origin & History
From a shortening of earlier quippy, perhaps from Latin quippe (“indeed”), ultimately quid (“what”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles."
— 1645, John Milton, L'Allegro:
"He was full of joke and jest, / But all his merry quips are o'er."
— 1832 December (indicated as 1833), Alfred Tennyson, “The Death of the Old Year”, in Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC:
"He wrote it down, remembering a quip of Pym's, paraphrased from Clemenceau: "Military intelligence has as much to do with intelligence as military music has to do with music.”"
— 1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
"Nobody could ever be bothered to imagine the Sand Snakes beyond personalized weaponry and fake-aggressive quips, none of which were very convincing, and now they don’t even register as dead weight."
— 2017 July 23, Brandon Nowalk, “The great game begins with a bang on Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club:
"In an eerily prescient bit, Kent Brockman laughingly quips that if seventy degree weather in the winter is the Gashouse Effect in action, he doesn’t mind one bit."
— 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in AV Club:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
His clever and funny ____ made everyone laugh during the meeting.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He delivered a sharp ____ that made the entire room laugh and defused the tension instantly.