Meanings
comparative more facetious · superlative most facetious
- Treating serious issues with (often deliberately) inappropriate humour; flippant.
Robbie's joke about Heather's appearance was just him being facetious.
2 more examples
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.
1951 October, “Notes and News: The Harmonium at Troutbeck”, in Railway Magazine, page 709Glamour 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.
2017 October 2, Jess Cartner-Morle, “Stella McCartney lays waste to disposable fashion in Paris”, in the Guardian - Of an idea or statementhumorously silly or counterproductive for the purpose of sarcastically advocating the opposite.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivecleverly amusing in tone
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic سَاخِر, طَرِيف
- سَاخِر (sāḵir)flippant
- طَرِيف (ṭarīf)pleasantly humorous, jocular
Bulgarian шеговит, закачлив
- шеговит (šegovit)flippant
- закачлив (zakačliv)flippant
- забавен (zabaven)pleasantly humorous, jocular
Dutch al te lollig, misplaatst grappig
- al te lolligflippant
- misplaatst grappigflippant
- grappigpleasantly humorous, jocular
Finnish epäasiallinen, näsäviisas
- epäasiallinenflippant
- näsäviisasflippant
- hyväntuulinenpleasantly humorous, jocular
- leikillinenpleasantly humorous, jocular
French facétieux, facétieux
- facétieuxflippant
- facétieuxpleasantly humorous, jocular
German flapsig, mit unangemessenem Humor
- flapsigflippant
- mit unangemessenem Humorflippant
- unpassende Scherze machendflippant
- spaßigpleasantly humorous, jocular
- witzigpleasantly humorous, jocular
- lustigpleasantly humorous, jocular
- humorvollpleasantly humorous, jocular
- drolligpleasantly humorous, jocular
Greek ευτράπελος
- ευτράπελος (eftrápelos)pleasantly humorous, jocular
Hungarian tréfálkozó
- tréfálkozópleasantly humorous, jocular
Icelandic spaugsamur, gamansamur
- spaugsamurflippant
- gamansamurflippant
Italian faceto, faceto
- facetoflippant
- facetopleasantly humorous, jocular
Japanese 剽軽
- 剽軽 (hyōkin)pleasantly humorous, jocular
Portuguese debochado, faceto
- debochadoflippant
- facetopleasantly humorous, jocular
Russian несерьёзный, шутли́вый
- несерьёзный (neserʹjóznyj)flippant
- шутли́вый (šutlívyj)pleasantly humorous, jocular
- шу́точный (šútočnyj)pleasantly humorous, jocular
- заба́вный (zabávnyj)pleasantly humorous, jocular
Spanish fisgón, socarrón
- fisgónflippant
- socarrónflippant
- facetoflippant
- facetopleasantly humorous, jocular
- graciosopleasantly humorous, jocular
- faceciosopleasantly humorous, jocular
Swedish lättvindig, skämtsam
- lättvindigflippant
- skämtsampleasantly humorous, jocular
Turkish ciddiyetsiz, alaycı
- ciddiyetsizflippant
- alaycıflippant
- şakacıpleasantly humorous, jocular
Vietnamese cợt nhả, tếu táo
- cợt nhảflippant
- tếu táoflippant
Welsh ysmala, gwamal
- ysmalaflippant
- gwamalflippant
- arabuspleasantly humorous, jocular
- cellweiruspleasantly humorous, jocular
- doniolpleasantly humorous, jocular
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with facetious
All rhymes →Cite this entry
facetious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facetious
“facetious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facetious. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “facetious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facetious.
Source: facetious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.