facetious

Q: 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.

Q: 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 .

adjective

fa·ce·tious fə-ˈsē-shəs

Synonyms of facetious next

: joking or jesting often inappropriately : waggish

just being facetious

: 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.

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

Example Sentences

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 Mustafa Ali hilariously led a facetious cheering section for Dolph Ziggler. —

Alfred Konuwa, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2023 Money also came up in somewhat facetious fashion early in the tribute show, which, for the top-tier ticket holders, came with a reception before and a dinner after the concert. —

Chris Willman, Variety, 15 Jan. 2023 But can two men who are clearly, to varying degrees, being deceitful and facetious with each other really work together successfully? —

Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2022 Their conversations — facetious, verbose, skittish — propel the narrative, reveal their personalities and betray their intentions. —

Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Oct. 2022 One day, Randal is goading Elias into a facetious debate pitting Jesus against Randal’s savior of choice (that would be Conan’s deity, Crom). —

John Defore, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Sep. 2022 Pitt: somehow facetious and wise at the same time, relishing the noise, as if daring curious onlookers to figure out the answer themselves. —

Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2022 But the technological command and the cleverness on display in the colossal fight scenes also undercut their dramatic significance, as do the over-the-top theatrics that tip into the facetious. —

Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 24 Dec. 2021 Now, Courtney, this is a way of asking the question in a facetious manner, but there is a kernel here. —

Laura Johnston, cleveland, 27 May 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'facetious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler

The first known use of facetious was in 1594

See more words from the same year