SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
facetious
adjective
Treating a serious matter with deliberately inappropriate humor.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Inappropriately humorous
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topFacetious often criticizes humor as unsuitable for a serious situation; playful and jocular can be approving.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See facetious in use
His facetious reply was poorly timed during the solemn announcement.
A facetious remark about an owner's damaged bicycle also landed badly because the owner was explaining a genuine inconvenience.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license