Words / F / General

facetious

adjective/fəˈsiːʃəs/

C1CEFR level
50/100Rarity: uncommon
NeutralRegister

Treating serious matters with inappropriate humour.

His facetious reply annoyed the grieving family.

Similar: flippant, glib, tongue-in-cheek

Origin: Latin facetus 'witty'.

Topic: Wit & humour in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: Wit & humour