flippant
Americanadjective
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frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness; characterized by levity.
The audience was shocked by his flippant remarks about patriotism.
- Synonyms:
- impudent, impertinent, saucy
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Chiefly Dialect. nimble, limber, or pliant.
-
Archaic. glib; voluble.
adjective
-
marked by inappropriate levity; frivolous or offhand
-
impertinent; saucy
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obsolete talkative or nimble
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flippant
Explanation
When a parent scolds a teenager for missing a curfew or blowing off a test and the teen snaps back, "Whatever," you could say the teen is being flippant. His reply was casual to the point of sarcasm and disrespect. When it first showed up in the English language around the 17th century, flippant meant glib and talkative. But over the years it has developed a more negative connotation. Today flippant is used to describe a blasé attitude or comment in a situation that calls for seriousness. Make a flippant comment about your friend's mother and the odds are good that they'll be offended.
Vocabulary lists containing flippant
The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 3
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Grade 11, List 1
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The New SAT: Words to Capture Tone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The author’s flippant assertion that “going broke is better than ever” has a serious historical point: Modern bankruptcy is accessible and preferable to old-fashioned debtors’ prison.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Platitudes, by their nature, can come off as flippant.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026
Then a flippant comment, it now sums up the fear in both Washington and Beijing: "Don't become a spy."
From BBC ● May 29, 2025
“It could seem flippant, but he was making a serious point, saying, ‘I felt like I was going to be sacrificed, so this is what I wanted to do before that happened.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2025
“Whatever there is to know,” I say; but that’s too flippant.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
