jive

1 of 3

noun

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 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

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 excuseLangston 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”).

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
Season 33 promises to be another unpredictable round of cha-cha-chas, jives, waltzes, foxtrots, and more. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 6 Sep. 2024 If chlorine pools and water parks aren't your jive, there are plenty of swimming holes around Arizona that are begging to be explored. Meredith G. White, The Arizona Republic, 22 June 2024
Verb
There are some questions, however, about how the new fair will jive with the existing, recently launched Art Mumbai fair, which takes place at the same time. The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 19 Sep. 2024 Suni Lee joined the ranks of fellow Olympians like Simone Biles and Tonya Harding who waltzed and jived on ABC's reality competition series These Olympians went for the gold ... and the Mirrorball Trophy. Diana Pearl, Peoplemag, 5 Aug. 2024
Adjective
For their first performances, the celebrity and pro duos' dances ran the gamut from the tango, to the cha-cha, salsa, foxtrot, and jive. Lauren Huff, EW.com, 18 Sep. 2024 Waiters hustled back and forth with foaming bottles of beer, diners abandoned their pasta con le sarde to jive in the narrow alley with passersby, and the greengrocer nodded with the beat while weighing out half a kilo of artichokes for an older gentleman. Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for jive 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'jive.' 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

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of jive was in 1925

Dictionary Entries Near jive

Cite this Entry

“Jive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jive. Accessed 5 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

jive

1 of 2 noun
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
2
: to dance or play jive

More from Merriam-Webster on jive

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