First Known Use: 1599
Dictionary
facetious
adjective fa·ce·tious \fə-ˈsē-shəs\
—used to describe speech that is meant to be funny but that is usually regarded as annoying, silly, or not proper
Full Definition of FACETIOUS
1
: joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish <just being facetious>
2
: meant to be humorous or funny : not serious <a facetious remark>
— fa·ce·tious·ly adverb
— fa·ce·tious·ness noun
See facetious defined for English-language learners
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Examples of FACETIOUS
- Nor was Liebling seriously asserting that his facetious bit of investigation into Tin Pan Alley history constituted a refutation of Sartre's philosophy. —Raymond Sokolov, Wayward Reporter, 1980
- … old ladies shrivelling to nothing in a forest of flowers and giant facetious get-well cards … —John Updike, Trust Me, 1962
- The portrait is good, the prose embroidered here with the facetious parlance—is that the word?—of clubs. —V. S. Pritchett, “Club and Country,” 1949, in A Man of Letters, 1985
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Origin of FACETIOUS
Middle French facetieux, from facetie jest, from Latin facetia
Synonym Discussion of FACETIOUS
witty, humorous, facetious, jocular, jocose mean provoking or intended to provoke laughter. witty suggests cleverness and quickness of mind <a witty remark>. humorous applies broadly to anything that evokes usually genial laughter and may contrast with witty in suggesting whimsicality or eccentricity <humorous anecdotes>. facetious stresses a desire to produce laughter and may be derogatory in implying dubious or ill-timed attempts at wit or humor <facetious comments>. jocular implies a usually habitual fondness for jesting and joking <a jocular fellow>. jocose is somewhat less derogatory than facetious in suggesting habitual waggishness or playfulness <jocose proposals>.
FACETIOUS Defined for Kids
facetious
adjective fa·ce·tious \fə-ˈsē-shəs\
Definition of FACETIOUS for Kids
: intended or trying to be funny <a facetious remark>
— fa·ce·tious·ly adverb
Headscratcher for FACETIOUS
Facetious is one of the few words in English that contain all the vowels (not including “y”) in alphabetical order.
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