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. 2024
How to use flippant in a sentence
I passed her the pancakes with a cheerful smile, and flippantly pressed the hand next me.
In Search of the Unknown | Robert W. Chambers"Call out the fire department, probably," said Eleanor flippantly.
Quin | Alice Hegan Rice"I am sorry to hear you speak so flippantly on a solemn subject," said Milburgh.
The Daffodil Mystery | Edgar WallaceIt is daring, flippantly defiant, paroxysmal, and redundant in explosive adjectives; but it is not true to nature.
He sits down again and throws his hat flippantly aside with the air of a man who has no longer anything to fear.
You Never Can Tell | George Bernard Shaw
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
Browse