A "joke", often making a political or social statement, whose purpose is to make the audience applaud and agree instead of laugh. Popular with hack comedians and their fans.
Did Margaret Cho tell a single joke during that performance? Her entire show was just left-wing clapter.
by Dexy's Midnight Runner March 29, 2008
Clapter is a word coined by Amanda Filipacchi in her 1993 novel Nude Men to describe the enthusiastic response to the avant-garde magician Laura who entertains her audience with "tricks" that require no actual magic but do demand an elevated level of sophistication on the part of the viewer in order to be appreciated.
"When Laura takes a Kleenex out of her pocket and wipes her forehead with it, everyone roars with clapter"
by Wankleton March 20, 2008
an ingenious term used to refer to the beautiful sound that we have come to know and love as applause. Laugh is to laughter as clap is to clapter.
The stadium erupted in roars of clapter.
by lizzy 19129 November 10, 2006
by walter hyatt, nathan lessard April 25, 2008
by walter hyatt, nathan lessard April 25, 2008
The theater was filled with the sound of clapter. Analogy: laughter is to laughing what clapter is to clapping.
by Lev Huntington May 14, 2010