Meaning & use
facetious
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Meaning
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Joking in a way that is badly timed, because the subject is serious or because you do not really mean what you say.
Grammar: Describes a person or remark: a facetious comment; he was being facetious.
Patterns
- a facetious remark
- be facetious about something
- facetious tone
Stop being facetious; this is a real emergency.
His facetious reply to the judge did not amuse anyone.
I was only being facetious when I said I'd quit and move to Mars.
Word forms
| comparative | more facetious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most facetious |
Common combinations
- a facetious remark
- A facetious remark broke the silence, and nobody laughed.
- facetious comment
- Her facetious comment about the budget annoyed the director.
- be facetious
- I'm not being facetious, I really do need your help.
- facetious tone
- He spoke in a facetious tone that hid his worry.
- sound facetious
- I don't want to sound facetious, but that plan is hopeless.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flippant
- Flippant stresses lack of respect for something serious, while facetious stresses a joke that is out of place.
- jokey
- Jokey is casual and friendly, whereas facetious usually carries criticism.
- tongue-in-cheek
- Tongue-in-cheek means openly not serious and is often charming, while facetious may be unwelcome.
- glib
- Glib suggests an easy, insincere answer, not necessarily a joke.
Opposites
Word family
- facetiously adverb
- in a joking, unserious way
- facetiousness noun
- inappropriate or flippant humor
- facetiae noun
- witty or humorous sayings, often in old books
Commonly confused: facetious or factitious?
facetious vs factitious
Factitious means artificial or created for effect, as in factitious demand. It has nothing to do with humor.
Practice
At a funeral, Sam made a joke about the coffin. His aunt called the joke ___.
Choose one answer.
A joke at a solemn moment is facetious. 'Fictitious' means invented, which sounds similar but does not describe a badly timed joke.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “facetious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.