comeback

/ˌkʌmˈbæk/

/ˈkʌmbæk/

Other forms: comebacks

A comeback is a quick, witty reply. “Your mama” is a lame comeback but a popular one. It's also a return to prominence after a break, like an athlete who retires and then makes a comeback by returning to the sport.

If someone insults you, and you say something back that turns the insult around, that's a comeback. Nice job. Another comeback is when someone — especially in entertainment or sports — comes back after being gone. If a popular singer leaves music for a few years and then returns with a hit song, that's a comeback. In the song “Mama Said Knock You Out,” LL Cool J starts by saying, “Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years!”

Definitions of comeback

1. noun

   a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one)
   synonyms: counter, rejoinder, replication, retort, return, riposte

   types:

   back talk, backtalk, lip, mouth, sass, sassing

   an impudent or insolent rejoinder

   type of:

   reply, response

   the speech act of continuing a conversational exchange
2. noun

   return by a celebrity to some previously successful activity
   type of:

   reappearance, return

   the act of someone appearing again