facetious
part of speech
adjective (facetious); adverb facetiously
meaning for a pupil
1) Joking at the wrong time, about something serious, so it seems silly or rude, as in «a facetious remark». tree →
2) Facetious can also mean simply funny, meant to make people laugh. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life and school, a teacher might say «Don't be facetious» when a pupil makes a cheeky joke instead of answering seriously. In stories, a facetious character uses jokes to avoid dealing with a problem. It is a formal, grown-up word.
examples
- When the teacher asked why he was late, he gave a facetious answer: «My bed wouldn't let me go.» tree →
- Don't be facetious — this is important. tree →
- Her facetious comment upset her friend, who was sad. tree →
- He was only being facetious when he said he'd eat his homework. tree →
- A facetious answer will not get you marks in an exam. tree →
- The jokes which form the themes of the Russian facetious tales are for the most part common to all Europe. tree →
note
Said «fuh-SEE-shus». Fun fact: «facetious» has all five vowels, a, e, i, o, u, in order. Close words: «flippant», «cheeky».
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «facetious» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.