jive

American  

[jahyv] / dʒaɪv /

noun

1. swing music or early jazz.

2. the jargon associated with swing music and early jazz.

3. Slang. deceptive, exaggerated, or meaningless talk.

   Don't give me any of that jive!

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verb (used without object)

jived, jiving

1. to play jive.

2. to dance to jive; jitterbug.

3. Slang. to engage in kidding, teasing, or exaggeration.

verb (used with object)

jived, jiving

1. Slang. to tease; fool; kid.

   Stop jiving me!

adjective

1. Slang. insincere, pretentious, or deceptive.

jive British  

/ dʒaɪv /

noun

1. a style of lively and jerky dance performed to jazz and, later, to rock and roll, popular esp in the 1940s and 1950s

2. Also called: jive talk.  a variety of American slang spoken chiefly by Black people, esp jazz musicians

3. 1. slang deliberately misleading or deceptive talk

   2. ( as modifier )

      jive talk

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verb

1. (intr) to dance the jive

2. slang to mislead; tell lies (to)

Other Word Forms

• jiver noun

Etymology

Origin of jive

First recorded in 1925–30; origin obscure; alleged to be an alteration of gibe ¹, though the shift in sense and phonetic change are unexplained

Explanation

Jive is a lively type of music that first became popular in the 1930s. If you’ve seen movies with people wearing 1930s clothing fast dancing and spinning around, chances are they’re dancing to jive music. You can listen to jive or you can jive, because the word is both a noun and a verb. When you jive, be prepared to do a lot of spinning and swinging. It's often done to a style of big band music called "swing," because the dancers hold hands and swing each other around. Jive also means glib, fancy talk. If you're bragging about things you didn't even do, someone might tell you to quit your jive.

Example Sentences

Cantrell says he’s experimenting with “vibe coding External link,” which I hear a lot, and sometimes mistakenly call jive coding, which works, too.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

Back in the actual 1990s, ice dancers cycled through traditional dances: samba, blues, polka, rumba, quickstep, tango, jive, paso doble, Viennese waltz.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 9, 2026

But Robbins didn’t jive with the newspaper’s conservative slant.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2025

But the couple still enjoy dancing, and have worked together to choreograph a new jive routine inspired by dogs, capturing their spirit at their favourite time of day - dinner time.

From BBC • Sep. 7, 2024

Kids are still saying how jive I am for squealing on Char.

From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake

Related Words

• chat
• comment
• communication
• conference
• consultation
• debate
• discussion
• exchange
• gossip
• hearing
• observation
• questioning
• remark
• speech
• talk
• visit