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quip en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• kwĭp
• (UK) audio
• [kʰw̥ɪp]
• /kwɪp/

Etymology

From a shortening of earlier quippy, perhaps from Latin quippe (“indeed”), ultimately quid (“what”).

Meanings

1. A smart, sarcastic turn or jest; a taunt; a severe retort or comeback; a gibe.
   • 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:
   • 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:
   • 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:
   • Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. 1645, John Milton, L'Allegro:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
quips	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Deriveds

counterquip · quippet · quipster · quipsome · quippery · quipful · cryptoquip · quippish

Synonyms

riff. See also Thesaurus:joke

Translations (43)

bg би́сер (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · oc trach d'esperit (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · es donaire (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · pt chiste (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · fr pique (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · de Erwiderung (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · mk досетка (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · el πείραγμα (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · ota لطیفه (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · el χαριτολόγημα (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · oc galejada (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · it battuta (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · it frizzo (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · de Stichelei (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · de Retourkutsche (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · es puntada (Mesoamerica) (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · ru ко́лкость (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · sh doskočica (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · uk саркастичне зауваження (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · oc trufada (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · ka მოსწრებული სიტყვა (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · de Witz (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · nl kwinkslag (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · sv kvickhet (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · oc escarni (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · cs vtípek (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · it freddura (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · ar طعني (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · hu beszólás (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · de Witzelei (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · es gracieta (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · fi sutkaus (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · de geistreiche Bemerkung (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · fi sivallus (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · es agudeza (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · ka ენამახვილობა (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · el σκώμμα (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · ru остро́та (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · tr espri (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · tr nükte (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · ur طعنہ (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · de Spöttelei (smart, sarcastic turn or jest) · bg остроу́мие (smart, sarcastic turn or jest)

quip en · VERB

Pronunciation

• kwĭp
• (UK) audio
• [kʰw̥ɪp]
• /kwɪp/

Etymology

From a shortening of earlier quippy, perhaps from Latin quippe (“indeed”), ultimately quid (“what”).

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To make a quip.
   • 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:
   • Now, faults can be diagnosed remotely and (in many cases) fixed before the train even reaches the depot. "It's our version of Formula 1 telemetry," quips Hinze. "It is similar for us to how a pit crew in Formula 1 can understand an issue as the car is coming into the pits - because it has that data to hand already. You know what's wrong before it arrives." 2025 July 23, Richard Wilcock, “A new dawn for the Electrostars”, in RAIL, number 1040, page 26:
2. (transitive) To taunt; to mock with quips.
   • He did not really mind being quipped; the city gentlemen made him used to that sort of thing. 1957, H. E. Bates, Death of a Huntsman:
   • the more he laughs, and does her closely quip 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
quipping	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
quips	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic
quipped	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
quipped	Tense=Past		lexicographic

Deriveds

quipper · quippingly

Synonyms

scintillate

Translations (11)

el πειράζω (to make a quip) · fr plaisanter (to make a quip) · cs vtípkovat (to make a quip) · ru язви́ть (to make a quip) · de witzeln (to make a quip) · sh našaliti se (to make a quip) · el χαριτολογώ (to make a quip) · es ironizar (to make a quip) · fr blaguer (to make a quip) · el σκώπτω (to make a quip) · fi sutkauttaa (to make a quip)