- Obs. glib; talkative
- frivolous and disrespectful; saucy; impertinent
Origin of flippant
Early ModE, nimble, probably from flip
adjective
The definition of flippant is disrespectful or the lack of a serious attitude.
An example of flippant is when you make a sarcastic comment in response to a serious question.
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"flippant." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant>.
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flippant. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant
flippant
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"flippant." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant>.
APA Style
flippant. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant
flippant
adjective
- Marked by disrespectful levity or casualness; pert: apologized for his flippant remark.
- Archaic Talkative; voluble.
Origin of flippant
Probably from flipRelated Forms:
- flip′pan·cy
noun
- flip′pant·ly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"flippant." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant>.
APA Style
flippant. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant
Adjective
(comparative more flippant, superlative most flippant)
- (archaic) glib; speaking with ease and rapidity
- (chiefly dialectal) nimble; limber.
- Showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.
Antonyms
Origin
1595, from Northern English dialectal flippand (“prattling, babbling, glib”), present participle of flip (“to babble”), of North Germanic origin. Cognate with Icelandic fleipa (“to babble, prattle”), Swedish dialectal flepa (“to talk nonsense”). Alteration of -and suffix (a variant of the participial -ing) to -ant probably due to influence of words in -ant.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"flippant." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant>.
APA Style
flippant. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/flippant
Sentence Examples
- So many people have a flippant attitude to the potential risks and effects of skin cancer.
- Kate Gosselin has been ravaged in the media for her sometimes questionable treatment of her kids, and flippant attitude.
- "It's okay," he said in a flippant tone.
- Something about his flippant answer made her think he would be a master at verbal fencing.
- He writes on theological subjects with the detachment of a thoughtful layman, and is witty without being flippant.
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Words near flippant in the dictionary
- flippant
- flippantly
- flippantness
- flippase