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Does flippant have a positive or negative connotation?
Consider the spatula, humble friend to many a cook: admire the pliancy with which it flips pancakes, eggs, your more wieldy cuts of meat. We’re not being flippant—that is, facetious or smart-alecky—utensils are important, and spatulas are particularly useful for understanding the origins of flippant. Flippant is believed to come from the English verb flip, which, in turn, is a supposed imitation of the sound of something (say, a flapjack) flipping. The earliest uses of flippant described flexible things (like a spatula) or nimble, spry people, capable of moving this way and that with ease. Soon enough, flippant began to be used not only for people fluent in their movements, but those whose words flow easily. To be this kind of flippant was once a good thing; however, as people who speak freely can sometimes speak more freely than propriety permits, English users eventually flipped the script on flippant, and the positive sense fell into disuse, bending to the "disrespectful" sense we know today.
Examples of flippant in a Sentence
Mordecai Richler, GQ, November 1997
… although she is neither solemn nor pontifical, she may be the least flippant advice columnist in the business.
—Ray Olson, Booklist, 1 May 1991
Despite its flippant name, the Greed Index has proven a remarkably prescient barometer of the market during the past 16 years.
—Richard E. Rustin, Wall Street Journal, 29 May 1984
He made a flippant response to a serious question.
his flippant comment that the poor save on taxes offended many people
Michael Gallagher, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
During his Monday night Daily Show episode, the political comic blasted the POTUS’ flippant attitude toward his largely unfavorable military decisions in the SWANA region.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 30 Mar. 2026
In the fall, New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization after the release of a group chat that included jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers.
—Los Angeles Times, 17 Mar. 2026
Last fall, New York’s Republican State Committee suspended a Young Republican organization following the release of a group chat that included jokes about rape and flippant commentary on gas chambers.
—ABC News, 17 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for flippant
Cite this Entry
“Flippant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flippant. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flippant
adjective
