jive

1 of 3

noun

ˈjīv 

1

a

: glib, deceptive, or foolish talk

tired of listening to his jive

b

: the jargon of hipsters

c

: a special jargon of difficult or slang terms

street jive

2

: swing music or the dancing performed to it

jivey

ˈjī-vē 

adjective

jive

2 of 3

verb

jived; jiving

transitive verb

1

: to say foolish, deceptive, or unserious things to (someone)

He's jiving you.

2

: swing sense 5

intransitive verb

1

: to talk in a foolish, deceptive, or unserious way : to talk jive (see jive entry 1 sense 1)

He's just jiving.

2

: to dance to or play jive (see jive entry 1 sense 2)

jive

3 of 3

adjective

slang

: phony

if you are late getting to heaven, you will give Saint Peter some jive excuse

—Langston Hughes

Did you know?

Jive vs. Jibe

People began confusing jive and jibe almost immediately after jive entered our language in the late 1920s. In particular, jive is often used as a variant for the sense of jibe meaning “agree,” as in “that doesn’t jive with my memory of what happened.” This use of jive, although increasingly common, is widely considered to be an error. Jibe, however, is accepted as a variant spelling of an entirely different word, which is gibe (“to utter taunting words”).

Synonyms

Noun

• argot
• cant
• dialect
• jargon
• language
• lingo
• patois
• patter
• shop
• shoptalk
• slang
• terminology
• vocabulary

Verb

• chaff
• joke
• josh
• kid
• rally
• razz
• rib
• ride
• roast
• tease

Adjective

• artificial
• backhanded
• counterfeit
• double
• double-dealing
• double-faced
• fake
• feigned
• hypocritical
• insincere
• Janus-faced
• left-handed
• lip
• mealy
• mealymouthed
• Pecksniffian
• phony
• phoney
• phony-baloney
• phoney-baloney
• pretended
• two-faced
• unctuous

Examples of jive in a Sentence

Noun

She grew up talking street jive.

I'm tired of listening to your jive.

Verb

I know he's just jiving me.

Don't take him seriously—he's just jiving.

Everyone was jiving to the beat.

Adjective

don't give me that jive talk about me being your new best friend

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Throughout the competition, Maher occasionally struggled, and at one point even broke down crying after a rough attempt at a jive. —Doha Madani, NBC News, 2 Dec. 2024

There was no question that Olympian Ilona and partner Alan would take another shot at the jive after their previous jive performance on Hair Metal night ended with Ilona in tears. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 27 Nov. 2024

Verb

Ready or not, the Dancing With the Stars competitors are jamming, jiving, and foxtrotting in full throttle. —Calie Schepp, EW.com, 9 Oct. 2024

When reality doesn’t jive with her desires (see also: Shauna’s early acceptance to Brown), no one dares shatter her illusions. —Judy Berman, TIME, 2 Oct. 2024

Adjective

There was no question that Olympian Ilona and partner Alan would take another shot at the jive after their previous jive performance on Hair Metal night ended with Ilona in tears. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 27 Nov. 2024

So don’t be the jive turkey that launches a political brawl. —Mike Vogel, Sun Sentinel, 26 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun, Verb, and Adjective

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun

1925, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1928, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Adjective

1953, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

jive

1 of 2 noun

ˈjīv 

1

: swing music or dancing performed to it

2

a

: glib, deceptive, or foolish talk

b

: a special jargon of difficult or slang terms

jive

2 of 2 verb

jived; jiving

1

: kid entry 2

2

: to dance or play jive