glib

[glib]

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adjective, glib·ber, glib·best.

readily fluent, often thoughtlessly, superficially, or insincerely so: a glib talker; glib answers.

easy or unconstrained, as actions or manners.

Archaic. agile; spry.

Origin of glib

1585–95; compare obsolete glibbery slippery (cognate with Dutch glibberig)

Related formsglib·ly, adverbglib·ness, nounun·glib, adjectiveun·glib·ly, adverb

Synonyms for glib

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1. talkative, loquacious; facile, smooth. See fluent.

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

Related Words for glibness

fraud, deception, duplicity, mockery, bigotry, insincerity, deceit, dishonesty, grandiloquence, wordiness, verboseness, prolixity, verbosity, logorrhea, loquaciousness, talkativeness, volubility, glibness, falsity, cant

Examples from the Web for glibness

Contemporary Examples of glibness

Seeing it written down, it looks dangerously close to glibness.
How One Doctor Mastered the Art of Delivering Life-Changing Diagnoses
Russell Saunders
March 22, 2014
Then as now, inside the Washington Beltway hubris and glibness go hand in hand.
30 Years After the Beirut Bombing We Have Learned Nothing
Christopher Dickey
October 23, 2013
The men in The Group behave with glibness, condescension, and even brutality toward the Vassar grads.
American Dreams, 1963: ‘The Group’ by Mary McCarthy
Nathaniel Rich
July 25, 2013

Historical Examples of glibness

At any rate, he proceeded with an unusual fluency and glibness.
Angel Island
Inez Haynes Gillmore
"I only said that the once," said Wully, shocked at her glibness in the uptake.
Bud
Neil Munro
But this skill of tongue, this glibness of speech is hardly an affair of intellect at all.
The Duke's Children
Anthony Trollope
Then the glibness and merit of some of their answers surprised and amused him.
Peg Woffington
Charles Reade
"Miss Baker is engaged," she announced, with the glibness of previous preparation.
Ben Blair
Will Lillibridge

British Dictionary definitions for glibness

glib

adjective glibber or glibbest

fluent and easy, often in an insincere or deceptive way

Derived Formsglibly, adverbglibness, noun

Word Origin for glib

C16: probably from Middle Low German glibberich slippery

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 glibness

glib

adj.

1590s, "smooth and slippery," possibly a shortening of obsolete glibbery "slippery," which is perhaps from Low German glibberig "smooth, slippery," from Middle Low German glibberich, from or related to glibber "jelly." Of words, speakers, etc., from c.1600. Related: Glibly; glibness.