faceti-
(Latin: jest; witty)
A witty or humorous saying or a written statement: Mark wrote several facetiae to his friends about his promotion to a higher rank in his company.
facetious (adjective), more facetious, most facetious
1. Playfully joking: Hank was making facetious remarks which made everybody at the party laugh.
2. Cleverly amusing in tone; intended to be humorous, but which is often considered to be silly or inappropriate: Jillian apologized for making facetious comments at her son's wedding party.
3. Lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous: Mildred seemed to be a facetious person who never took anything seriously.
4. Etymology: from 1592, "polished, urbane; later, given to joking, humorous"; borrowed from French facétieux, from facétie, "a joke"; from Latin facetia, from facetus, "witty, elegant".
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2. Cleverly amusing in tone; intended to be humorous, but which is often considered to be silly or inappropriate: Jillian apologized for making facetious comments at her son's wedding party.
3. Lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous: Mildred seemed to be a facetious person who never took anything seriously.
4. Etymology: from 1592, "polished, urbane; later, given to joking, humorous"; borrowed from French facétieux, from facétie, "a joke"; from Latin facetia, from facetus, "witty, elegant".
Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
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facetious, fictitious
facetious (fuh SEE shuhs) (adjective)
Used to describe speech that is meant to be funny but that is usually regarded as annoying, silly, or not proper: Frieda's facetious remark certainly did not fit the situation.
fictitious (fik TISH uhs) (adjective)
Not true or real: The characters in the novel are all fictitious and imaginary.
The book reviewer made a facetious remark about the fictitious characters in the short stories.
facetiously (adverb), more facetiously, most facetiously
1. Not seriously: Eugenia facetiously told her husband about how she got the scratches on the fender of their car.
2. A reference to a ridiculous or joking manner: Earl was facetiously suggesting that he and his two young boys stay up all night in Los Angeles to see the Olympics that were taking place in England.
2. A reference to a ridiculous or joking manner: Earl was facetiously suggesting that he and his two young boys stay up all night in Los Angeles to see the Olympics that were taking place in England.
That which is meant to be inappropriately flippant or funny: The facetiousness of the speaker at the funeral was not appreciated by the others who were attending the service.
Samuel's drunken facetiousness about Sally at her birthday party bothered just about everyone there.
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