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Word of the Day - 12/21/25

facetious

/fə'siʃəs/
(adj.): joking or sarcastic especially in a way regarded by others as silly, annoying, or inappropriate
        He made a facetious remark during the meeting, which lightened the mood but avoided addressing the real issue.


Word Origin

        The word 'facetious' originated in the late 16th century. It comes from the French word 'facétieux', which is derived from the Latin word 'facētus', meaning 'witty', 'joking', or 'jesting'. The Latin root 'facetus' is related to 'facetia', meaning 'jest' or 'wit'.


Sunday Special

As a reminder, here are all of the words from this week:

cabal      piquant      striation
callipygian      opsimath      epicaricacy
facetious

See if you can remember all of this week's words! Here is a sentence that includes all seven, followed by a version that simplifies them to help you remember:

The cabal of art critics, with their facetious remarks about the opsimath's latest work, displayed clear epicaricacy at his failure, even as they observed the piquant striation on the callipygian sculpture's base.

The secret group of art critics, with their joking comments about the late learner's latest work, showed obvious pleasure in his failure, even as they observed the interesting lines on the shapely sculpture's base.


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