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flippant

[flip-uhnt]
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adjective
  1. frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness; characterized by levity: The audience was shocked by his flippant remarks about patriotism.
  2. Chiefly Dialect. nimble, limber, or pliant.
  3. Archaic. glib; voluble.
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Origin of flippant

1595–1605; apparently flip1 + -ant
Related formsflip·pan·cy, flip·pant·ness, nounflip·pant·ly, adverbun·flip·pant, adjectiveun·flip·pant·ly, adverb

Synonyms

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1. saucy, impertinent, impudent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

easily, delicately, casually, tenderly, moderately, gingerly, softly, simply, mildly, freely, quietly, slightly, sparsely, faintly, subtly, carelessly, indifferently, nimbly, peacefully, readily

Examples from the Web for flippantly

Historical Examples

  • "Fool if she doesn't," replied this elegant young gentleman, flippantly.

    Australia Revenged

    Boomerang

  • "I hope none of God's bears is roaming about," replied Alice, flippantly.

  • “Oh, only made some funny noises,” retorted Miss Jones, flippantly.

  • In reference to this it is flippantly asked, 'What does the house build?'

    The Verbalist

    Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)

  • Not flippantly, but reverently, leave your misdeeds in a limbo where they may not rise to haunt you.

    The Untroubled Mind

    Herbert J. Hall

British Dictionary definitions for flippantly

flippant

adjective
  1. marked by inappropriate levity; frivolous or offhand
  2. impertinent; saucy
  3. obsolete talkative or nimble
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Derived Formsflippancy, nounflippantly, adverb

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for flippantly

flippant

adj.

c.1600, "talkative;" 1670s, "displaying unbecoming levity," apparently an extended form of flip (v.). Shortened form flip is attested from 1847. Related: Flippantly.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper