boutade

n.

[F., fr. bouter to thrust. See Butt.]
An outbreak; a caprice; a whim. [Obs.]

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noun

An impulsive, often illogical turn of mind: bee, caprice, conceit, fancy, freak, humor, impulse, megrim, notion, vagary, whim, whimsy. Idioms: bee in one's bonnet. See thoughts.

[F.] a sudden outburst or outbreak; a caprice; a whim