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

: joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish <just being facetious>

: 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

See facetious defined for kids

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

First Known Use: 1599

Related to FACETIOUS

Synonyms: clever, witty, humorous, jocular, smart

Antonyms: earnest, sincere

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