facetious

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English

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Etymology

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From French facétieux, from Latin facētia (jest, wit, humor), from facētus (witty, jocose, facetious).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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facetious (comparative more facetious, superlative most facetious)

  1. Treating serious issues with (often deliberately) inappropriate humour; flippant.
    Robbie's joke about Heather's appearance was just him being facetious.
    • 1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709:
      Troutbeck is a tiny village midway between Penrith and Keswick in a very sparsely populated part of Cumberland, and it used to be said by facetious travellers that the reason why it ever had a station at all was to give the engine a rest after it had struggled up the long and trying incline from Threlkeld.
    • 2017 October 2, Jess Cartner-Morle, “Stella McCartney lays waste to disposable fashion in Paris”, in the Guardian[1]:
      Glamour for its own sake is not something I have ever been particularly interested in,” Stella McCartney said backstage after her catwalk show. Which could sound like a facetious statement from a fashion designer who was, at that moment, standing among the marble-slabbed floors, elaborately frescoed ceilings and giant chandeliers of the Palais Garnier opera house, where the show was staged.
  2. Pleasantly humorous; jocular.
  3. (Of an idea or statement) humorously silly or counterproductive for the purpose of sarcastically advocating the opposite.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Further reading

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