flippant
frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness; characterized by levity: The audience was shocked by his flippant remarks about patriotism.
Chiefly Dialect. nimble, limber, or pliant.
Archaic. glib; voluble.
Origin of flippant
1Other words for flippant
Other words from flippant
- flip·pan·cy, flip·pant·ness, noun
- flip·pant·ly, adverb
- un·flip·pant, adjective
- un·flip·pant·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use flippant in a sentence
"That I don't know, sir," the girl replied, speaking with a flippancy that was careless and almost impertinent.
In the Onyx Lobby | Carolyn WellsIn parliament he had hitherto opposed all popular measures, sometimes with insolent flippancy.
The Political History of England - Vol. X. | William Hunt"They might as well kill a man as scare him to death," he said, with an attempt to get back to his customary flippancy.
Gallegher and Other Stories | Richard Harding DavisBut when he had carefully dressed for it, and was immersed in its shallow flippancy, he reacted the other way.
Mountain | Clement WoodIn the ecstatic solemnity with which she swore her faith to him the ordinary sensibilities of sex seemed a flippancy.
Tess of the d'Urbervilles | Thomas Hardy
British Dictionary definitions for flippant
/ (ˈflɪpənt) /
marked by inappropriate levity; frivolous or offhand
impertinent; saucy
obsolete talkative or nimble
Origin of flippant
1Derived forms of flippant
- flippancy, noun
- flippantly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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