NSW Selective & Scholarship

Learn “Facetious”

A free exam-vocabulary guide with a precise meaning, natural context and a memory connection that makes the word easier to retrieve.

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NSW Selective & Scholarship

Facetious

adjective/fuh-see-shuhs/

Meaning

treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.

In context

Her facetious comments sometimes obscured the gravity of the situation.

Remember it

Facetious has a-e-i-o-u in perfect order — but its jokes arrive at perfectly wrong moments.

Use it well

Often an apology: 'sorry, I was being facetious' — joking when seriousness was expected.