jive
Americannoun
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swing music or early jazz.
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the jargon associated with swing music and early jazz.
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Slang. deceptive, exaggerated, or meaningless talk.
Don't give me any of that jive!
verb (used without object)
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to play jive.
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to dance to jive; jitterbug.
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Slang. to engage in kidding, teasing, or exaggeration.
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
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a style of lively and jerky dance performed to jazz and, later, to rock and roll, popular esp in the 1940s and 1950s
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Also called: jive talk. a variety of American slang spoken chiefly by Black people, esp jazz musicians
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slang deliberately misleading or deceptive talk
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( as modifier )
jive talk
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verb
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(intr) to dance the jive
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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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They also performed a football-themed jive to One Way Or Another by Blondie, earning them a standing ovation - and their second perfect score of the night.
From BBC
In the same compilation, Carson explained that a jive is difficult for a first dance and praised Irwin’s positivity.
From Los Angeles Times
“Little bit of Neil Diamond,” he said as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra revved up the go-go self-improvement jive of “Crunchy Granola Suite.”
From Los Angeles Times
He had been a singles skater but turning jumps into jives is not an overnight job.
From BBC
The contrasts between the walkouts was stark, with Thainara enthusiastically jiving her way to the octagon and McCann showing typical focus and intensity.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
