flippant
/ˈflɪp.ənt/
flippant adjective: showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.
Adjective
flippant (comparative more flippant, superlative most flippant)
- Showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.
- a sort of flippant, vain discourse1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC
- The conversations had grown more adult over the years—she was less flippant, at least.1998, Sylvia Brownrigg, The Metaphysical Touch
- Loquacious; speaking with ease and rapidity.
- November 5, 1673, Isaac Barrow, sermon on the Gunpowder Treason
It becometh good men, in such cases, to be pleasantly flippant and free in their speech.
- November 5, 1673, Isaac Barrow, sermon on the Gunpowder Treason
- Nimble; limber.
flippant meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
flippant in Tamil
- கருத்துறுதியற்ற, கவலையற்ற பொறுப்பற்ற, வம்பளக்கின்ற
flippant in Urdu
- البیلا, چرب زبان, گستاخ, شوخ
flippant in Bengali
- অসং গম্ভীর, চপল, অসম্মানজনকভাবে হালকা, ঠাট্টাপূর্ণ
flippant in Malayalam
- ഗൗരവമില്ലാത്ത, ആലോചിക്കാതെ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്ന, മര്യാദയില്ലാത്ത, വായാടിയായ
More languagesFewer languages
- flippant in Kannada
- ಚೆಲ್ಲುಚೆಲ್ಲಾದ, ಬರಬರ ಮಾತಿನ, ಗಾಂಭೀರ್ಯವಿಲ್ಲದ, ಮರ್ಯಾದೆ ತೋರದ
Examples of flippant in a sentence
- In the mid-1950s we both wrote for the same weekly, where her contributions were a good deal more serious and less flippant than mine.2000, Anthony Howard, Jason Cowley, Decline and Fall, New Statesman, March 13, 2000:
- Our society treats smoking flippantly as a slightly distasteful habit that can injure your health.2004, Allen Carr, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, page 147:
Antonyms of flippant
Forms of flippant
| comparative | more flippant |
|---|---|
| superlative | most flippant |
Origin of flippant
1595, from Northern English dialectal flippand (“prattling, babbling, glib”), present participle of flip (“to babble”), of North Germanic origin. Cognate with Icelandic fleipa (“to babble, prattle”), Swedish dialectal flepa (“to talk nonsense”). Alteration of -and suffix (a variant of the participial -ing) to -ant probably due to influence from words in -ant.
Words formed from flippant
Questions about flippant
- What does flippant mean?
- Flippant means showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.
- What is flippant in Tamil?
- Flippant in Tamil is கருத்துறுதியற்ற, கவலையற்ற பொறுப்பற்ற, வம்பளக்கின்ற. See Flippant meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use flippant in a sentence?
- In the mid-1950s we both wrote for the same weekly, where her contributions were a good deal more serious and less flippant than mine.
- What part of speech is flippant?
- Flippant is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce flippant?
- Flippant is pronounced /ˈflɪp.ənt/ (UK).
Words near flippant in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: flippant (page history and authors); flippant (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flippant (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Flippant (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flippant (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); flippant (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-flippant.wav.
Cite this entry: “flippant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flippant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.