facetious

adjective

fa·ce·tious | \ fə-ˈsē-shəs

Definition of facetious

1 : joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish just being facetious

2 : meant to be humorous or funny : not serious a facetious remark

Other Words from facetious Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym Facetious Is Chock-Full of Vowels More Example Sentences Learn More about facetious

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Choose the Right Synonym for 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 Is Chock-Full of Vowels

Facetious—which puzzle fans know is one of the few English words containing the vowels a, e, i, o, u in order—came to English from the Middle French word facetieux, which traces to the Latin word facetia, meaning "jest." Facetia seems to have made only one other lasting contribution to the English language: facetiae, meaning "witty or humorous writings or sayings." Facetiae, which comes from the plural of facetia and is pronounced \fuh-SEE-shee-ee\ or \fuh-SEE-shee-eye\, is a far less common word than facetious, but it does show up occasionally. For example, American essayist Louis Menand used it in his 2002 book American Studies to describe the early days of The New Yorker. "The New Yorker," he wrote, "started as a hectic book of gossip, cartoons, and facetiae."

Examples of facetious in a Sentence

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 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 essay is a facetious commentary on the absurdity of war as a solution for international disputes a facetious and tasteless remark about people in famine-stricken countries being spared the problem of overeating

Recent Examples on the Web

Donatella’s appeal—her fame transcends the confines of the fashion bubble—is a many-faceted, flashy, funny, facetious, life-enhancing thing. — Vogue, "The Women Designers Who Changed The Way We Dress," 14 Aug. 2019 What was promoted as an exchanging of rings was better characterized as a facetious litany of moments designed to go viral, artifice presented with frenzied urgency but no earnest emotion. — Aja Romano, Vox, "Jake Paul and Tana Mongeau’s giant YouTuber wedding married reality TV to the internet," 30 July 2019 By turns facetious, juvenile, cruel and profane in tone, the channel repeatedly reveals personal information and photos, some of them intimate, of the family members of police officers, sometimes with intimate social-media photos. — Paul Mozur, New York Times, "In Hong Kong Protests, Faces Become Weapons," 26 July 2019 The adjectives, of course, are facetious; none of Mussina's neighbors on the all-time ERA list have any chance of sniffing the Hall of Fame anytime soon. — Dave Sheinin, courant.com, "It took years, and a sabermetrics revolution, to put Mike Mussina in the Hall of Fame," 19 July 2019 The Werewolf of Washington’ aren’t too scary, and the funny bits tend to come out fitfully facetious. — John Kelly, Washington Post, "In 1973, there was a werewolf in the White House — at least in this B movie," 8 Jan. 2018 Diplo then set off a stream of response tweets, rich with memes and facetious apologies. — Kat Bein, Billboard, "deadmau5, Laidback Luke & More DJs React to Zedd, Diplo Beef," 12 June 2018 Bauer replied first with a string of chin-scratching emojis, then with a facetious allusion to possible malfeasance. — Chandler Rome, Houston Chronicle, "Astros respond to cryptic, accusatory tweets by Indians' Trevor Bauer," 1 May 2018 But lyrically, Now Only is stranger, sometimes facetious even. — Kevin Nguyen, GQ, "You Could Use a Style Upgrade," 11 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'facetious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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More Definitions for facetious

facetious

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of facetious

—used to describe speech that is meant to be funny but that is usually regarded as annoying, silly, or not proper

See the full definition for facetious in the English Language Learners Dictionary

facetious

adjective

fa·ce·tious | \ fə-ˈsē-shəs

Kids Definition of facetious

: intended or trying to be funny a facetious remark

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facetious

Definition of facetious

Other Words from facetious

Synonyms for facetious

Choose the Right Synonym for facetious

Facetious Is Chock-Full of Vowels

Examples of facetious in a Sentence

First Known Use of facetious

History and Etymology for facetious

English Language Learners Definition of facetious

Kids Definition of facetious

facetious

Definition of facetious

Other Words from facetious

Synonyms for facetious

Choose the Right Synonym for facetious

Facetious Is Chock-Full of Vowels

Examples of facetious in a Sentence

First Known Use of facetious

History and Etymology for facetious

English Language Learners Definition of facetious

Kids Definition of facetious

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