Dictionary

flippant en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈflɪp.ənt/ (UK, US)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. Showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.
   • Our society treats smoking flippantly as a slightly distasteful habit that can injure your health. It is not. It is drug addiction. 2004, Allen Carr, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, page 147:
   • 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:
   • The conversations had grown more adult over the years—she was less flippant, at least. 1998, Sylvia Brownrigg, The Metaphysical Touch:
   • a sort of flippant, vain discourse 1790 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:
2. (archaic) 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.
3. (dialectal) Nimble; limber.

Forms

Antonyms

serious

Deriveds

flippantly · unflippant · flippancy · flippantness

Relateds

facetious · pert · frivolous · irreverent

Translations (53)

es fresco (lacking respect) · eo impertinenta (lacking respect) · it irriverente (lacking respect) · it sapientone (lacking respect) · mi ngahangaha (lacking respect) · ru на́глый (lacking respect) · ja ぶしつけな (lacking respect) · hu pimasz (lacking respect) · it spaccone (lacking respect) · ru неуважительный (lacking respect) · hu pikírt (lacking respect) · mk за́качлив (lacking respect) · de frech (lacking respect) · pt impertinente (lacking respect) · bg непочтителен (lacking respect) · is virðingarlaus (lacking respect) · no eplekjekk (lacking respect) · mk на́хален (lacking respect) · es poco serio (lacking respect) · pt insolente (lacking respect) · cmn 輕佻 /轻佻 (lacking respect) · it impertinente (lacking respect) · hu nyegle (lacking respect) · cmn 輕浮 /轻浮 (lacking respect) · fr cavalier (lacking respect) · it fanfarone (lacking respect) · no flåset (lacking respect) · mk др́зок (lacking respect) · nl spottend (lacking respect) · fi epäkunnioittava (lacking respect) · it gradasso (lacking respect) · ru де́рзкий (lacking respect) · cmn 無禮 /无礼 (lacking respect) · de vorlaut (lacking respect) · cs lehkovážný (lacking respect) · de schnodderig (lacking respect) · it frivolo (lacking respect) · nl oneerbiedig (lacking respect) · cs neomalený (lacking respect) · mk несерио́зен (lacking respect) · de leichtfertig (lacking respect) · fi epäasiallinen (lacking respect) · ja 生意気な (lacking respect) · de mit fehlender Ernsthaftigkeit (lacking respect) · it faceto (lacking respect) · it disinvolto (lacking respect) · no flåsete (lacking respect) · pl impertynencki (lacking respect) · sv oseriös (lacking respect) · ru наха́льный (lacking respect) · hu pökhendi (lacking respect) · de oberflächlich (lacking respect) · fr désinvolte (lacking respect)