1 jive | Definition of jive

jive

noun
\ ˈjīv How to pronounce jive (audio) \

Definition of jive

 (Entry 1 of 3)

1a : glib, deceptive, or foolish talk tired of listening to his jive
b : the jargon of hipsters
c : a special jargon of difficult or slang terms street jive
2 : swing music or the dancing performed to it

jive

verb
jived; jiving

Definition of jive (Entry 2 of 3)

transitive verb

1 : to say foolish, deceptive, or unserious things to (someone) He's jiving you.

intransitive verb

1 : to talk in a foolish, deceptive, or unserious way : to talk jive (see jive entry 1 sense 1) He's just jiving.
2 : to dance to or play jive (see jive entry 1 sense 2)

jive

adjective

Definition of jive (Entry 3 of 3)

slang
: phony if you are late getting to heaven, you will give Saint Peter some jive excuse— Langston Hughes

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Other Words from jive

Noun

jivey \ ˈjÄ«-​vē How to pronounce jivey (audio) \ adjective

Jive vs. Jibe

People began confusing jive and jibe almost immediately after jive entered our language in the late 1920s. In particular, jive is often used as a variant for the sense of jibe meaning “agree,” as in “that doesn’t jive with my memory of what happened.” This use of jive, although increasingly common, is widely considered to be an error. Jibe, however, is accepted as a variant spelling of an entirely different word, which is gibe (“to utter taunting words”).

Examples of jive in a Sentence

Noun

She grew up talking street jive. I'm tired of listening to your jive.

Verb

I know he's just jiving me. Don't take him seriously—he's just jiving. Everyone was jiving to the beat.

Adjective

don't give me that jive talk about me being your new best friend
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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

His hand jive, soul arches, and toreador-like flourishes play to the camera in a way that breaks the spell of the itinerant surfer in far-flung solitude. Jamie Brisick, The New Yorker, "Surfing in the Age of the Omnipresent Camera," 26 Aug. 2019 Why does Cherry Creek Drive shuck and jive between the north and south sides of Cherry Creek east of Colorado? Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, "Letters: Incentives Gaylord could receive unknown; TABOR continues to be a hot topic (7/14/19)," 14 July 2019 But nothing could have spoken louder than his small, spontaneous gesture, his awe, far more powerful than today's HD histrionics and hand jive. Martha Teichner, CBS News, "Walter Cronkite and the awe of space exploration," 14 July 2019 That the truck driver was somewhat to blame jives with the immediate descriptions of the crash, which happened on the shuttle’s first day of operation. Sean O'kane, The Verge, "Self-driving shuttle crashed in Las Vegas because manual controls were locked away," 11 July 2019 This beachside village mixes European hamlet vibe with old-school surf-shop jive, backdropped by a kaleidoscope of restaurants, bars and shops. Allen Pierleoni, The Mercury News, "A weekend of beachy fun in Capitola-by-the-Sea," 16 June 2019 Each manufacturer speaks hand jive a little differently. Dan Neil, WSJ, "2019 Acura RDX: Have High-Tech Interfaces Gone Too Far?," 28 Sep. 2018 The variously slinky and driven choreography features such sidelights as pratfalls, teasingly competitive back-and-forth accents, sassy shoulder shimmies and snappy hand jives. Robert Greskovic, WSJ, "‘Minimalism and Me’ Review: Twyla Tharp Tells Her Story," 19 Nov. 2018 Dance, jive,