facetious Hear it!

facetious Definition

fa·ce·tious (fə sē′s̸həs)

adjective

joking or trying to be jocular, esp. at an inappropriate time

Etymology: Fr facétieux < L facetia: see facetiae & -ous

facetious Related Forms

fa·ce′·tious·ly adverb fa·ce′·tious·ness noun

facetious Synonyms

facetious

modif.

jocular, jocose, humorous, funny, flippant, waggish, jesting, joking, jokey, tongue-in-cheek, sportive, sprightly, witty, merry, pleasant, comical, droll, amusing, laughable, clever, ludicrous, farcical, whimsical, fanciful, bantering, pert, light, irreverent, quippish, playful, quizzical, dry, wry, salty, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, trifling, not serious, punning, epigrammatic, capering, indecorous, ridiculous, jolly, jocund, flip*, kidding*, joshing*, wisecracking*, pulling one's leg*, putting one on*; see also funny 1. See syn. study at witty.

facetious Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • remark: Anthony Mayers Wrexham, Clwyd Dear Sir Kind Ed, I take back all those nasty facetious remarks I have ever made about you.
  • answer: Not to be out done by your facetious answer, I would like to make a facetious suggestion of my own.
  • example: This is obviously untrue ( at least one MP is Prime Minister, for a facetious example ).
  • person: Wags ' Dinners ( Definition of a Wag - " a facetious person: intending to be amusing, especially inappropriately " !
  • point: This may seem a facetious point but that is far from my intention.
  • way: Mr Boyd: I am making the serious point, in a slightly facetious way, that a range of skills must be encouraged.

Modifying Another Word

  • slightly: There is no single quick answer, apart from the slightly facetious " in the ground " .
  • little: Peter Gasston Says: May 31st, 2006 at 2:59 pm I agree, I was being a little facetious.
  • very: I'm sure you realized I was only being very facetious!

Used with adjective complement

  • sound: Sorry if that sounds facetious, but it is a valid point.
  • seem: Whilst some of the options seemed rather facetious I was impressed that the most likely outcome was displayed.

Browse dictionary entries near facetious

  1. ‹ facetiae
  2. ‹ facet
  3. ‹ facer
  4. ‹ faceplate
  5. ‹ faceless
  6. ‹ facedown
  7. ‹ -faced
  8. ‹ faced
  9. ‹ face value
  10. ‹ face to face
  1. faceup ›
  2. facia ›
  3. facial ›
  4. facial angle ›
  5. facial index ›
  6. facial tissue ›
  7. -facient ›
  8. facies ›
  9. facile ›
  10. facilitate ›