Boutade
A sudden, whimsical outburst — a remark that surprises by its abruptness rather than its argument.
A boutade is a French loanword for a sudden sally of wit or feeling: an unexpected remark that breaks from the surrounding conversation without warning. The root is the Old French 'bouter', 'to thrust', and the word keeps that sense of an impulsive push against the tone of the moment.
In salon culture, the boutade was prized. A guest who could interrupt a decorous exchange with a startling, well-aimed sentence — comic, paradoxical, or provocative — was performing a small feat of social bravery. The boutade differs from the epigram in that it is not polished for reuse; it belongs to its moment and often loses force when repeated.
In modern editorial usage, 'boutade' most often labels a remark that a writer would prefer not to be judged by. When a public figure says something startling in a magazine profile and later says they were making a boutade, they are asking to be read as impulsive rather than doctrinal.
Common mistake: treating every provocation as a boutade. A boutade is short, self-contained, and clearly out of key with what preceded it. A sustained, deliberate attack is not a boutade — it is a position, and dressing it in a French word does not change that.
“I have nothing to declare except my genius.”
Keep reading the glossary
A brief, witty remark — sharper than an observation, lighter than an argument.
A clever, often spontaneous remark that delivers humour through verbal ingenuity.
A neatly turned witty remark — literally a 'good word' in French.
A short, witty, often satirical statement built on a clever turn.