jive

[jahyv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jive ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

swing music or early jazz.

the jargon associated with swing music and early jazz.

Slang. deceptive, exaggerated, or meaningless talk: Don't give me any of that jive!

verb (used without object), jived, jiv·ing.

to play jive.

to dance to jive; jitterbug.

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

verb (used with object), jived, jiv·ing.

Slang. to tease; fool; kid: Stop jiving me!

adjective

Slang. insincere, pretentious, or deceptive.

Origin of jive

1920–25; origin obscure; alleged to be an alteration of gibe¹, though the shift in sense and phonetic change are unexplained

Related formsjiv·er, noun

Can be confusedgibe gybe jib jibe jive

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

Related Words for jive

conversational, vernacular, madness, silliness, babble, joke, bunk, folly, stupidity, foolishness, drivel, rubbish, baloney, gibberish, trash, absurdity, spiel, monologue, chatter, farce

Examples from the Web for jive

Contemporary Examples of jive

Instead, she wanted to listen to her music and go disco-ing or to some jive concert.
"Spiteful" Diana Had "No Feeling For Her Husband or His Family" Says Lady Pamela Hicks
Tom Sykes
September 5, 2013
Then, when Ali's jive began to bend toward something like truth, Lipsyte snatched those thoughts for his column.
On the Peninsula
Bryan Curtis
April 25, 2011

British Dictionary definitions for jive

jive

noun

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

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

slang, mainly USdeliberately misleading or deceptive talk
(as modifier)jive talk

verb

(intr) to dance the jive

slang, mainly US to mislead; tell lies (to)

Derived Formsjiver, noun

Word Origin for jive

C20: of unknown origin

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 jive

v.1

1928, "to deceive playfully," also "empty, misleading talk" (n.) and "a style of fast, lively jazz and dance music," American English, from Black English, probably of African origin (cf. Wolof jev, jeu "talk about someone absent, especially in a disparaging manner"). Related: Jived; jiving. Used from 1938 for "New York City African-American slang."

v.2

"agree," 1943, apparently a mistake for jibe (q.v.).

adj.

"not acting right," 1969, U.S. black English, from jive (n.) (see jive (1)). Extended form jive-ass (1964, adj.; 1969, n.) is defined in OED as "A word of fluid meaning and application."