flippant

[ flip-uhnt ]

/ ˈflɪp ənt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR flippant ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

Words nearby flippant

flip-flop, flip-flopper, flip-top, flip-up, flipbook, flippant, flipper, flipping, flippy, flirt, flirtable

Origin of flippant

1595–1605; apparently flip¹ + -ant

SYNONYMS FOR flippant

1 saucy, impertinent, impudent.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR flippant ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM flippant

flip·pan·cy, flip·pant·ness, nounflip·pant·ly, adverbun·flip·pant, adjectiveun·flip·pant·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flippant

When the editor of Outside magazine, Alex Heard, tweeted that I had made an ass of myself, my response was arrogant and flippant.
I Was Deluded to Believe Lance Armstrong When He Denied Doping|Buzz Bissinger|January 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Ali Gharib said after the fact that he realized the comments were flippant and irresponsible.
Intramural War of Words Raises Question of Who Loves Israel More|Linda Killian|January 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He seems implacably bespectacled—admonitory even in his flippant asides.
Blame the Messenger|Lee Siegel|August 17, 2009|DAILY BEAST
A man shallow and flippant by nature might have seen the disclosure in a grotesque aspect.
The Fallen Leaves|Wilkie Collins

A flippant reply was what she asked and needed—something flippant and a little cynical.
Where Angels Fear to Tread|E. M. Forster
He is serious where we are flippant, and we are serious where he is ironical.
Suspended Judgments|John Cowper Powys
It was a flippant style which took nothing seriously except itself.
Chats on Japanese Prints|Arthur Davison Ficke
In my youth I knew an aleck who was most exceeding smart, and his flippant way of talking often broke the hearer's heart.
Uncle Walt [Walt Mason]|Walt Mason

British Dictionary definitions for flippant

flippant

/ (ˈflɪpənt) /

adjective

marked by inappropriate levity; frivolous or offhand

impertinent; saucy

obsolete talkative or nimble

Derived forms of flippant

flippancy, nounflippantly, adverb

Word Origin for flippant

C17: perhaps from flip

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

flippant

adjective

Content related to flippant

Words related to flippant

Words nearby flippant

Origin of flippant

SYNONYMS FOR flippant

OTHER WORDS FROM flippant

Examples from the Web for flippant

British Dictionary definitions for flippant

adjective

Derived forms of flippant

Word Origin for flippant