Rhet. [ad. L. asteïsmus, a. Gr. ἀστεϊσμός refined witty talk, f. ἀστεῖος of the city, polite, f. ἄστυ city.] Genteel irony, polite and ingenious mockery.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie (Arb.), 200. Asteismus or the Merry scoffe, otherwise the ciuill iest.
1675. Tully, Let. Baxter, 35. Yet one Asteisme in it must not be omitted.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Asteism, a genteel irony, or handsome way of deriding another.
1815. [So Encycl. Brit., III. 5.]
