---
title: facetious — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «facetious» in the school dictionary: Joking at the wrong time, about something serious, so it seems silly or rude, as in «a facetious remark». Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# facetious

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** it, Facetious, people, teacher, bed, me · **What happens:** joke, seem, mean, make, laugh, ask · **To what, where:** people, facetious answer, me, friend, homework, marks · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«facetious» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 6 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [facetious in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/facetious.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Joking at the wrong time, about something serious, so it seems silly or rude, as in «a facetious remark».

<!-- fold The tree, 19 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:m1:1
# text = Joking at the wrong time, about something serious, so it seems silly or rude, as in «a facetious remark».
1	Joking	joke	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	13	csubj	_	_
2	at	at	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
4	wrong	wrong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	amod	_	_
5	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	about	about	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	something	something	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	1	obl	_	_
9	serious	serious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	13	punct	_	_
11	so	so	ADV	RB	_	13	advmod	_	_
12	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	nsubj	_	_
13	seems	seem	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
14	silly	silly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	xcomp	_	_
15	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	16	cc	_	_
16	rude	rude	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
18	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	23	mark	_	_
19	in	in	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
20	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
22	facetious	facetious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	amod	_	_
23	remark	remark	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	23	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **joke** *speech: other* | gerund |  |  |  |  | time | about something | vn chit\_chat-37.6 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent about something=Topic |
| 2 | **seem** | present | it |  |  |  |  | silly *property* | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Facetious can also mean simply funny, meant to make people laugh.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:m2:1
# text = Facetious can also mean simply funny, meant to make people laugh.
1	Facetious	Facetious	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
2	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	also	also	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
4	mean	mean	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	simply	simply	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	funny	funny	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	meant	mean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	ccomp	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	10	obj	_	_
12	laugh	laugh	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | can | Facetious |  |  |  |  | funny *property* | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **mean** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn intend-61.2-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **make** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | people |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **laugh** *not said to happen* | infinitive | people *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn nonverbal\_expression-40.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
When the teacher asked why he was late, he gave a facetious answer: «My bed wouldn't let me go.»

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:x1:1
# text = When the teacher asked why he was late, he gave a facetious answer: «My bed wouldn't let me go.»
1	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	4	advmod	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	teacher	teacher	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	asked	ask	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	advcl	_	_
5	why	why	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
6	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
7	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	late	late	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
10	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	_
11	gave	give	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
13	facetious	facetious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	21	punct	_	_
16	«	«	PUNCT	``	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	My	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	bed	bed	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	nsubj	_	_
19	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	let	let	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	11	ccomp	_	_
22	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	21	obj	_	_
23	go	go	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	21	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	»	»	PUNCT	''	_	21	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ask** *speech: ask* | past | the teacher |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **is** | past | teacher |  |  |  |  | late *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **give** | past | teacher | a facetious answer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **not** **let** *in a quote* | would | My bed | me |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **go** *in a quote* | infinitive | me *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn disappearance-48.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Don't be facetious — this is important.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:x2:1
# text = Don't be facetious — this is important.
1	Do	do	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	n't	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	4	advmod	_	_
3	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	cop	_	_
4	facetious	facetious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	obj	_	_
5	—	-	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
6	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	8	nsubj	_	_
7	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	8	cop	_	_
8	important	important	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	1	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **do** | imperative | you *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn act-114-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **not** **is** | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  | facetious *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **is** | present | this |  |  |  |  | important *property* | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Her facetious comment upset her friend, who was sad.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:x3:1
# text = Her facetious comment upset her friend, who was sad.
1	Her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
2	facetious	facetious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	comment	comment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	upset	upset	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	10	nsubj	_	_
9	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	10	cop	_	_
10	sad	sad	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **upset** | past | Her facetious comment | comment's friend |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus friend=Experiencer |
| 2 | **is** | past | comment's friend |  |  |  |  | sad *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **comment** |  | Her *= she* |  |  |  |  |  | nom comment «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
He was only being facetious when he said he'd eat his homework.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:x4:1
# text = He was only being facetious when he said he'd eat his homework.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
3	only	only	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
4	being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	5	cop	_	_
5	facetious	facetious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
6	when	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	8	advmod	_	_
7	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	advcl	_	_
9	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	11	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	'd	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	11	aux	_	_
11	eat	eat	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	ccomp	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	13	nmod:poss	_	_
13	homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | He |  |  |  |  | facetious *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | he |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **eat** | would | he | his homework |  |  |  |  | vn eat-39.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent homework=Patient |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A facetious answer will not get you marks in an exam.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:x5:1
# text = A facetious answer will not get you marks in an exam.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	facetious	facetious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	answer	answer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	6	aux	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	get	get	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
7	you	you	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Person=2|PronType=Prs	6	obj	_	_
8	marks	mark	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	obj	_	_
9	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	exam	exam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **get** | future | a facetious answer | marks | you | a exam |  |  | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP.beneficiary NP»: agent=Agent you=Beneficiary mark=Theme |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The jokes which form the themes of the Russian facetious tales are for the most part common to all Europe.

<!-- fold The tree, 20 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:facetious:x6:1
# text = The jokes which form the themes of the Russian facetious tales are for the most part common to all Europe.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	jokes	joke	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	_
3	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	4	nsubj	_	_
4	form	form	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	acl:relcl	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	themes	theme	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obj	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
9	Russian	Russian	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
10	facetious	facetious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	tales	tale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
12	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	cop	_	_
13	for	for	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	most	most	ADJ	JJS	Degree=Sup	16	amod	_	_
16	part	part	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
17	common	common	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	amod	_	_
18	to	to	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	20	det	_	_
20	Europe	Europe	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	17	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	16	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **form** | present | the jokes | the themes of the Russian facetious tales |  |  |  |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location theme=Theme |
| 2 | **is** | present | the jokes |  |  |  |  | for the most part | tree rules |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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