facetious

adjective

fa·​ce·​tious fə-ˈsē-shəs 

1

: joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish

just being facetious

2

: meant to be humorous or funny : not serious

a facetious remark

facetiously adverb

facetiousness noun

Frequently Asked Questions

Is facetious insulting?

It is not inherently insulting to say that someone is being facetious (although it may imply dubious or ill-timed attempts at wit or humor). The word comes from the Latin facetia, meaning "jest."

What is the difference between facetious and sarcastic?

Facetious may be defined as "joking or jesting often inappropriately" or "not serious." Sarcastic, on the other hand, while still concerned with humor, tends to imply a more caustic or biting quality that is often intended to cause pain.

Is facetious the same as facetiousness?

Facetious is an adjective ("not serious," "waggish"), while facetiousness is a noun ("the state or quality of being facetious"). The adverb form is facetiously.

Synonyms

• clever
• humorous
• jocular
• smart
• witty

Choose the Right Synonym for facetious

witty, humorous, facetious, jocular, jocose mean provoking or intended to provoke laughter.

witty suggests cleverness and quickness of mind.

a witty remark

humorous applies broadly to anything that evokes usually genial laughter and may contrast with witty in suggesting whimsicality or eccentricity.

humorous anecdotes

facetious stresses a desire to produce laughter and may be derogatory in implying dubious or ill-timed attempts at wit or humor.

facetious comments

jocular implies a usually habitual fondness for jesting and joking.

a jocular fellow

jocose is somewhat less derogatory than facetious in suggesting habitual waggishness or playfulness.

jocose proposals

Examples of facetious in a Sentence

The portrait is good, the prose embroidered here with the facetious parlance—is that the word?—of clubs. —V. S. Pritchett, "Club and Country," 1949, in A Man of Letters,  1985

Nor was Liebling seriously asserting that his facetious bit of investigation into Tin Pan Alley history constituted a refutation of Sartre's philosophy. —Raymond Sokolov, Wayward Reporter, 1980

… old ladies shrivelling to nothing in a forest of flowers and giant facetious get-well cards … —John Updike, Trust Me, 1962

the essay is a facetious commentary on the absurdity of war as a solution for international disputes

a facetious and tasteless remark about people in famine-stricken countries being spared the problem of overeating

Recent Examples on the Web

That quip no longer seems so facetious as a son of exiles who fled their homeland prepares to become America’s top diplomat. —Patrick Oppmann, CNN, 8 Dec. 2024

Some also expressed facetious disdain for how much money Downey must have accepted to come back to Marvel, suspecting a lucrative deal. —Angela Yang, NBC News, 28 July 2024

Maher’s power is the fascination his facetious commentary holds for other, less secure pundits. —Armond White, National Review, 7 June 2024

The veteran investor isn’t being entirely facetious. —Will Daniel, Fortune, 29 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French facetieux, facecieux, from facetie "joke, jesting remark" (borrowed from Latin facētia, facētiae "cleverness, wit," in plural sense, "amusing things, jests") + -eux (going back to Latin -ōsus -ous) — more at facetiae

First Known Use

1594, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

facetious

adjective

fa·​ce·​tious fə-ˈsē-shəs 

1

: joking or kidding often inappropriately

just being facetious

2

: meant to be funny : not serious

a facetious remark

facetiously adverb

facetiousness noun