facetious

  • 1Facetious — Fa*ce tious, a. [Cf. F. fac[ e]tieux. See {Faceti[ae]}.] 1. Given to wit and good humor; merry; sportive; jocular; as, a facetious companion. [1913 Webster] 2. Characterized by wit and pleasantry; exciting laughter; as, a facetious story or reply …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2facetious — index jocular Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3facetious — 1590s, from Fr. facétieux, from facétie a joke (15c.), from L. facetia jest, witticism, from facetus witty, elegant, fine, courteous, of unknown origin, perhaps related to facis torch. It implies a desire to be amusing, often intrusive or ill… …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4facetious — humorous, jocose, jocular, *witty Analogous words: joking, jesting, quipping, wisecracking (see corresponding nouns at JOKE): jolly, jovial, jocund, *merry, blithe: comical, comic, droll, funny, ludicrous, *laughable Antonyms: lugubrious… …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5facetious — [adj] tongue in cheek, kidding amusing, blithe, capering, clever, comic, comical, droll, dry, fanciful, farcical, flip*, flippant, frivolous, funny, gay, humorous, indecorous, ironic, irreverent, jesting, jocose, jocular, joking, joshing,… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6facetious — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ trivially or inappropriately humorous. DERIVATIVES facetiously adverb facetiousness noun. ORIGIN French facétieux, from Latin facetia jest …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7facetious — [fə sē′shəs] adj. [Fr facétieux < L facetia: see FACETIAE & OUS] joking or trying to be jocular, esp. at an inappropriate time SYN. WITTY facetiously adv. facetiousness n …

    English World dictionary

  • 8facetious — adjective Etymology: Middle French facetieux, from facetie jest, from Latin facetia Date: 1599 1. joking or jesting often inappropriately ; waggish < just being facetious > 2. meant to be humorous or funny ; not serious < a facetious remark > …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 9facetious — facetiously, adv. facetiousness, n. /feuh see sheuhs/, adj. 1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark. 2. amusing; humorous. 3. lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous: a&#8230; …

    Universalium

  • 10facetious — fa|ce|tious [fəˈsi:ʃəs] adj [Date: 1500 1600; : French; Origin: facétieux, from facétie joke ] saying things that are intended to be clever and funny but are really silly and annoying ▪ Don t be so facetious! ▪ facetious comments &GT;facetiously&#8230; …

    Dictionary of contemporary English