Dictionary

boutade en · NOUN

Etymology

Borrowed from French boutade, from bouter (“to thrust”). See butt.

Meanings

1. A sudden outbreak or outburst; a caprice, a whim.
   • Thus we see that Wilde's witticisms contain a wealth of unsuspected meaning. Even his apparently nonsensical boutades are Late Romantic gestures. 1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae:
   • [H]e suddenly broke out, "Well, then, as I understand you, what you recommend me is to marry Miss Bernardstone, and carry on an intrigue with Lady Vandeleur!" He knew perfectly that I recommended nothing of the sort, and he must have been very angry to indulge in this boutade. 1884, Henry James, “The Path of Duty”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, 2(15): 240-256:

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