boutade
nounEtymology Borrowed from French boutade, from bouter (“to thrust”). See butt.
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.1884, Henry James, “The Path of Duty”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, 2(15): 240-256:
- Thus we see that Wilde's witticisms contain a wealth of unsuspected meaning. Even his apparently nonsensical boutades are Late Romantic gestures.1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae: