facetious

fa·ce·tious
F4A1C3E1T1I1O1U1S1
/fəˈsiːʃəs//fəˈsiːʃɪs/

adjective

Treating serious issues with (often deliberately) inappropriate humour; flippant.

“Robbie's joke about Heather's appearance was just him being facetious.”

UncommonScrabble 14

Meanings

adjectivefacetious (comparative more facetious, superlative most facetious)

comparative more facetious · superlative most facetious

  1. 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 709

    Glamour 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
  2. Pleasantly humorous; jocular.
  3. 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

  1. Latinfacētia“jest, wit, humor”
  2. Frenchfacétieux
  3. Englishfacetious

From French facétieux, from Latin facētia (“jest, wit, humor”), from facētus (“witty, jocose, facetious”).

Full word history & related roots →

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
APA

facetious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facetious

MLA

“facetious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facetious. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “facetious,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/facetious.

Source: facetious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.