clapback

See also: clap back

English

Etymology

Deverbal from clap back.

Noun

clapback (countable and uncountable, plural clapbacks)

1. (uncountable, countable, music) An exercise where the pupil is instructed to repeat a previously played rhythm by clapping.

   Coordinate terms: playback, singback

2. (countable, originally African-American Vernacular, informal) A witty or sarcastic retort.

   Coordinate terms: comeback, talkback

   • 2020 March 9, “’It’s so toxic’: why we’re addicted to mean online gossip about women”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-10:

     While these bits of online affirmation are addicting, so too are the online takedowns, the clapbacks, the snark.

   • 2023 October 7, Ajesh Patalay, quoting Jon Kung, “The Naked Chef 2.0”, in FT Weekend‎^[2], HTSI, page 77:

     “My first truly viral video was a clapback to a nasty comment someone made about me being a stupid millenial and telling me to ‘go eat toast’,” Kung recalls.

See also

• throw shade

 

Further reading

• “clapback”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• Black Cap, black cap, blackcap