Synonym Study

• Repartee refers to the ability to reply or retort with quick, skillful wit or humor
• Satire applies to the use, especially in literature, of ridicule, sarcasm, irony, etc. in exposing and attacking vices or follies
• Irony refers to the humor implicit in the contradiction between literal expression and intended meaning or in the discrepancy between appearance and reality in life
• Humor is applied to the ability to perceive and express that which is comical, ludicrous, or ridiculous, but connotes kindliness, geniality, sometimes even pathos, in the expression and a reaction of sympathetic amusement from the audience
• Wit refers to the ability to perceive the incongruous and to express it in quick, sharp, spontaneous, often sarcastic remarks that delight or entertain