facetiously

«facetiously» in Mova's school dictionary: In a joking way, especially about a serious matter, when… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adverb (facetiously)

meaning for a pupil

1) In a joking way, especially about a serious matter, when it is not the right time for jokes. tree →

2) Not meant seriously. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in stories to show a character is joking or being silly when others are serious: «"Maybe the dog did my homework," he said facetiously.» A teacher may say «Don't answer facetiously». It tells the reader the words are not meant to be taken as true.

examples

• "I'll just fly to school," she said facetiously. tree →
• He answered facetiously, so the teacher asked again. tree →
• "Maybe aliens took it," Tom said facetiously. tree →
• She was speaking facetiously, not giving real advice. tree →
• Don't reply facetiously when someone is upset. tree →
• He facetiously suggested we eat the homework. tree →

note

Adjective: facetious (fa-SEE-shus). Spelling trap: contains all five vowels a, e, i, o, u in order (plus y at the end). Facetious remarks can seem rude in serious moments.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «facetiously» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.