also: たわむれごと · ざれこと
A playful or silly remark, often not meant to be taken seriously. Can be used for light-hearted banter or nonsense talk.
What he says is always just a joke.
Don't take such a silly joke seriously.
戯言 is a slightly literary word for a silly or nonsensical remark, while 冗談 is the everyday word for a joke.
Standard kanji spelling for ざれごと. Also read たわむれごと, but ざれごと is the more common reading.
Alternate reading; less common than ざれごと and may sound literary or old-fashioned.
Compound of 戯れ (ざれ, 'playfulness') + 言 (こと, 'word'). The reading ざれ is the 連用形 of the verb 戯れる (ざれる, 'to jest'). The alternate reading たわむれごと uses the 連用形 of 戯れる (たわむれる).