foot-in-mouth disease

American  

noun

Informal: Facetious.

1. the habit of making inappropriate, insensitive, or imprudent statements.

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Etymology

Origin of foot-in-mouth disease

1965–70; pun on foot-and-mouth disease, with allusion to foot-in-mouth

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foot-in-mouth disease

What we are witnessing is another chronic flare-up of celebrity foot-in-mouth disease in the social media age.

From Salon ● Feb. 26, 2022

For the politicians who seem to be afflicted with foot-in-mouth disease, former public relations professional Chaya Srivatsa, who is also a life coach with an info-tech firm, has some good advice.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2016

Smith is outspoken, and a natural and inevitable side-effect of such a condition is foot-in-mouth disease.

From Newsweek ● Mar. 26, 2015

But the party has yet to hear from a guy well-positioned to do it: Vice President Joe Biden, who has the populist touch progressives yearn for but struggles with chronic foot-in-mouth disease.

From US News ● Dec. 10, 2014

Best bit: film clips of well-known speakers in the throes of foot-in-mouth disease.

From Time Magazine Archive