quip
Americannoun
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quips
plural
verb (used without object)
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quips,
present (3rd person singular)
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quipped,
past participle, past
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quipping
present participle
noun
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a sarcastic or cutting remark; gibe
-
a witty or clever saying
a merry quip
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archaic another word for quibble
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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quipsimple
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quipssimple
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have quippedperfect
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has quippedperfect
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am quippingprogressive
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are quippingprogressive
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is quippingprogressive
-
have been quippingperfect progressive
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has been quippingperfect progressive
Past
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quippedsimple
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had quippedperfect
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was quippingprogressive
-
were quippingprogressive
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had been quippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of quip
1525–35; back formation from quippy quip < Latin quippe indeed
Explanation
A quip — a short, witty comment — can be pleasant, wise, or sarcastic, but usually carries an element of humor. A quip is a witty or clever remark that sounds spur-of-the-moment. A successful quip must sound offhand, as though it were an afterthought, even if the speaker has been honing the statement for days. Dorothy Parker was a famous writer known for her quick quips, such as, "The best way to keep children home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant — and let the air out of the tires."
Vocabulary lists containing quip
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It turns out that “indefinitely” has lasted longer than we expected—another confirmation of Adam Smith’s quip that “there is a great deal of ruin in a nation.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
However, when Minton Beddoes noted his almost 250 million followers on X at one point during the interview, Musk was quick to quip: "Popular guy".
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
My quip naturally made me recall Donald Trump’s 2015 campaign comment about how he loves the poorly educated.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
The movie works backward from a famous 1961 Eisenhower quip to JFK that attributed his success in Normandy, France, to the Allies having “better meteorologists than the Germans.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
This time Ruth heard me, but she must have thought I’d meant it as some kind of joke, because she laughed half-heartedly, then made some quip of her own.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Nevertheless, one of the Time journalists gamely quips in response: “I would have if I had the opportunity.”
From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2026
As the AI analyst and podcaster Tom Reed quips: “Even a 100% success rate at predicting the tokens of a Robert Caro biography doesn’t generalize to becoming POTUS.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The British adventurer makes her acrobatic moves against a background of realistic graphics, complete with her trademark sarcastic quips.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Before their departure, a professor jokingly quips to Dwayne: “I can’t wait to have your child in my class in the year 2014.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
“You ain’t got to buy it,” Shorty quips.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
“You see people hiding their food,” one lineman quipped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
“I joke around with him, like, ‘Well, you didn’t take care of me in the marriage, but you’re taking care of me in the divorce,’” she quipped.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
"Jaguar has no desire to be loved by everybody," he quipped.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
As the lights flickered back on, baptism in blackout over, one attendee quipped that the show was now, officially, "very authentic".
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
Slant and Will listened; and even Bono, when he was by, hearkened some and quipped.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
"Amazon is primed to buy Liverpool Football Club" is the Daily Star's lead story, quipping "you'll never deliver alone!" – a cheeky reference to the club's terrace anthem.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
He said it was "very early for that question" and offered no further comment, prompting Letts, 60, to raise a laugh by quipping: "I'm the next James Bond."
From Barron's ● Feb. 14, 2026
His bespectacled, quipping presence lent the show some book-world class, the new medium poaching prestige from the old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
This achievement is all the more remarkable considering that, in the next theater over, Fanning was punching, kicking and quipping in “Predator: Badlands.”
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
Or, as my husband Steve is fond of quipping, a "balanced meal" has four colors on every plate: something red, something green, something white and something yellow.
From How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Steve Solomon
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
