boutade

noun

1. A sudden outbreak or outburst; a caprice, a whim.

   “[H]e suddenly broke out, "Well, then, as I understand you, what you recommend me is to marry Miss Bernardstone, and carry on an intrigue with Lady Vandeleur!" He knew perfectly that I recommended nothing of the sort, and he must have been very angry to indulge in this boutade.”

   “Thus we see that Wilde's witticisms contain a wealth of unsuspected meaning. Even his apparently nonsensical boutades are Late Romantic gestures.”