noun
Etymology
Origin of persiflage
First recorded in 1750–60; from French, derivative of persifler “to banter,” equivalent to per- prefix meaning “through, thoroughly, very” + siffler “to whistle, hiss,” from Late Latin sifilāre, for Latin sībilāre; per-, sibilant, -age
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.
Maybe that shows that they’ve finally gotten wise to the PR persiflage of Big Pharma.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2023
The voice of the show is familiar, from barbershop persiflage, stoop-sitting smack talk, and barstool bullshitting.
From The New Yorker • Feb. 22, 2019
Follow this with a little badinage and dollop of persiflage.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2015
As a columnist for the Boston Phoenix and Boston Herald, he covered all sports, displaying an uncanny ability to cut through the persiflage and get to the core of a story or a personality.
From The Guardian • Jul. 29, 2011
In cases where an angel would lose his temper under the gentlest persiflage it is only decent to leave a willing but disappointed man to himself.
From Through East Anglia in a Motor Car by Vincent, J. E. (James Edmund)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
