Boutade
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A sudden outbreak or outburst; a caprice, a whim.
"[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."
Example
More examples"[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."
Etymology
Borrowed from French boutade, from bouter (“to thrust”). See butt.
More for "boutade"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.