June 28, 2026
facetious
/fəˈsiːʃəs/adjective
Joking about serious matters in a way that seems out of place.
Example sentences
- “Stop being facetious; this is a real emergency.”
- “When I asked about his grades, he gave a facetious answer about aliens.”
Not a synonym for 'funny': it criticizes the timing, not the joke. 'I was being facetious' is a standard way to walk back a remark taken seriously.