facetious
fuh-SEE-shusadjMeaning joking at a time that calls for being serious
Memory hook FACE-tious: a silly FACE at the wrong time. When the teacher asks why his homework is late, Pip pulls a silly face and says, “My goldfish needed it.” He is being facetious.
“Maybe we should all move to the moon,” Kai said, but he was only being facetious.
In context When the coach asked how to fix the team’s defense, Jonah’s facetious answer, “Hire a dragon,” got laughs but no thanks; the coach wanted a real plan.
Similar flippant, joking, tongue-in-cheek
Opposite serious, earnest, sincere
From French facétieux, from Latin facetia, “a jest, a witty saying.”