as in chat
friendly, informal conversation or an instance of this
at the corporate get-together we made the obligatory small talk with some people from the home office
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of small talk
Lacey remembers the conversation, which came just after exchanging small talk with her doctor, who discussed having four kids at home.
—
Angela Andaloro, People.com, 17 June 2025
Surface-level small talk gets you nowhere and leaves no mark.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
After years on the route, Casey has come to know who needs help with their bags, who wants small talk and who prefers silence.
—January Lavoy Krish Seenivasan Ted Blaisdell, New York Times, 3 May 2025
Around liberal America, these were the questions asked with a nervous laugh at dinner parties, in office small talk, on university campuses.
—Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for small talk
Angela Andaloro, People.com, 17 June 2025
Surface-level small talk gets you nowhere and leaves no mark.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 6 June 2025
After years on the route, Casey has come to know who needs help with their bags, who wants small talk and who prefers silence.
—January Lavoy Krish Seenivasan Ted Blaisdell, New York Times, 3 May 2025
Around liberal America, these were the questions asked with a nervous laugh at dinner parties, in office small talk, on university campuses.
—Carlo Versano, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for small talk
Recent Examples of Synonyms for small talk
Noun
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Avoid sharing confidential or sensitive information in Gemini chats, as Google explicitly advises against it.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 July 2025
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After a firepit chat with Madix, the four couples headed back to the platform for the results.—
Breanne L. Heldman,
People.com,
14 July 2025
Noun
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Inside the 2026 Program Our full program will include feature films, episodic projects, and short films — welcoming 90-plus features and 50-plus shorts in 2026 — as well as our annual Beyond Film series, which showcases talks and events with some of the most compelling artists and many more.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
14 July 2025
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Meanwhile, Trump has intensified the talks with other trading partners, leveraging threats of higher tariffs to extract concessions, with an apparent target on curbing transshipments linked to China.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
14 July 2025
Noun
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There was a lot of chatter about taxes and changes to the tax system for colleges.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
4 July 2025
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Both players are near the top of their respective positions, but there was a lot of chatter regarding Fitzpatrick.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 July 2025
Noun
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Each monthly box includes three recipe guides, skill lessons, a kitchen tool, a kitchen project, an apron patch, table talk cards, and a grocery list.—
Jessica Booth,
Parents,
16 Dec. 2024
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Almost everything about Thanksgiving, from travel to table talk about politics, has the potential to become fraught.—
Kendra Nordin Beato,
The Christian Science Monitor,
26 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Small talk.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/small%20talk. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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