Meaning & use

facetious

adjective·Advanced

Treating serious matters with inappropriate or flippant humor rather than the respect they deserve.

See it in a sentence

His facetious remark about the budget cuts annoyed several people in the meeting.

She wasn't being facetious; she genuinely thought the plan would fail.

A note on using this word

Facetious carries a mildly negative tone, criticizing humor as poorly timed, unlike the more neutral word 'joking'.

Words with a similar meaning

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Words with an opposite meaning

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