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Glite Dictionary
😄 A witty remark 😄 To joke
to quip

to quip

19 6.7
To say something short and clever to make people laugh
  • verb
  • /kwɪp/
translation icon : soltar una ocurrencia
  • Morse takes stock of the situation and quips, "James Bond would have gotten it on the first try."
  • I quipped once

And we were brainstorming how to write an e-mail to this guy, Sawyer quips.

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Examples

  • "M-Kat used to be a Democrat, too," Bush quipped, referring to me.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Later he famously quipped, "I leave the university as I entered it, fired with enthusiasm."

    Academic text (2005)

  • From the way that you describe it, it sounds like you guys were quipping up a storm in there.

    Dreaming of You (2024)

  • Before I could respond, he quipped, "I'll bet he doesn't have one."

    Academic text (1991)

  • As David Brooks, the New York Times columnist, quipped, when the going gets tough, the tough take accounting.

  • "Really, you could almost be his mother, Evastina," quipped the mayor, who was in a facetious mood.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "I'm running out of villains," quipped Colin Powell, then chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

    Academic text (2004)

  • When the economy turned around in 1983, Reagan quipped that "pretty soon, they won't be calling it 'Reaganomics' anymore."

    Academic text (2011)

  • George Bernard Shaw once quipped, "All professions are conspiracies against the laity."

    Academic text (2016)

  • During the meeting, she quipped, "I could use another coffee to survive this presentation!"

Synonyms

to joke
vsto quip
476 1.0

To say or do something to make people laugh

is a short clever line aimed at wit rather than general laughter
to crack
vsto quip
  • Informal
168 4.8

To say a short funny or clever remark

is a clever remark that need not be sudden or spontaneous
to wisecrack
vsto quip
  • Informal
1 7.3

To make a short funny or sarcastic remark meant to be clever

is a clever remark often without irony or sarcasm
to gag
vsto quip
  • Informal
1 4.5

To joke in a light, playful way

is more a short clever remark focused on wit rather than play

How Witty

to wisecrack
  • Informal
1 7.3
to quip
19 6.7
to joke
476 1.0

Surface Forms

quip infinitive
quipped past
quipped past participle
quipping present participle
quips third person singular

Etymology

Quip as a verb comes from the same idea of a quick saying and means to make a short, clever remark. That's why to quip is to say something witty to amuse people or to lighten a moment.