persiflage
/ˈpɝː.sɪ.flɑːʒ/noun
persiflage is spelled P-E-R-S-I-F-L-A-G-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 71 million words in written English, the 265,644th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, persiflage means “Good-natured banter; raillery” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of persiflage is persiflages.
How many letters and syllables are in persiflage?
| Letters | 10: P-E-R-S-I-F-L-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 71 million words; the 265,644th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is persiflage?
Persiflage appears about once in every 71 million words in written English, the 265,644th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce persiflage?
- UK /ˈpɜː.sɪ.flɑːʒ/
- US /ˈpɝː.sɪ.flɑːʒ/
Persiflage has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-persiflage.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of persiflage
- persiflages plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does persiflage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Good-natured banter; raillery.
After the third strike he returned to the bench to face the inevitable persiflage from his teammates.
- 2
Frivolous, lighthearted discussion of a topic.
Polite dinner calls for persiflage rather than in-depth possibly offensive discussion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Persiflage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense good-natured banter; raillery:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | badinerie, persiflage, plaisanterie |
| German | Persiflage |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does persiflage come from?
From French persiflage, from persifler (“to quiz, tease, mock”), from per- + siffler (“to whistle”), from Latin sībilō (“whistle”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).