Dictionary

japery en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree English jape Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Old French -ier Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French -eriebor. Middle English -erie English -ery English japery From jape + -ery.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Jesting, joking
   • “My, how far we've fallen that museums have stooped to trafficking in fantastical creations.” “Wait. Isaac, do you not know that dinosaurs were real?” “What?” “Samantha, much like that green cardigan you wore last Monday, japery doesn't look good on you.” “Interesting. Dinosaurs weren't discovered until the 1800s. So, the Founding Fathers wouldn't have even known about them.” 2024 April 4, Guy Endore-Kaiser, “Hello, Brother” (0: from the start), in Ghosts, season 3, episode 6, spoken by Captain Isaac Higgintoot (Brandon Scott Jones):
   • In his opening pages he defines snark negatively — as a practice that certain famed comics are often charged with, but undeservedly and inaccurately because they actually trade in “irony” and also, one can’t help but gather from Denby’s remarks, because they’re politically virtuous in their japery, even when their words seem cruel and harsh. 2009 February 22, Walter Kirn, “Insult as Injury”, in The New York Times:

Forms

Relateds

jape