Flippant — A Vocabulary Story
The Very Soggy Sleepover
When Dad announced that he and Yasmin would camp in Auntie Farah's big garden overnight, Yasmin danced around the kitchen with a spoon in her hand like a tiny drum major.
"Check the forecast," said Dad, wrestling the tent bag out of the cupboard. "It might rain."
"Rain is just sky juice," said Yasmin with a flippant wave of her spoon. "I'll drink it."
Flippant means not showing a serious or respectful attitude when one is expected; making jokes about things that should be taken seriously.
Dad raised one eyebrow, which is what his eyebrows did when Yasmin was being silly about serious things.
At Auntie Farah's, Dad read the tent instructions carefully. "Peg every corner, or the wind gets underneath."
"Wind is just air showing off," said Yasmin flippantly, and she pegged two corners, then flopped onto her sleeping bag to eat crisps.
At midnight, the sky grumbled. Then it poured. Then the unpegged half of the tent lifted like a giant flapping bin bag, and cold rain smacked Yasmin right on the nose.
"Sky juice!" Dad called over the wind, hammering pegs in his pyjamas. "Fancy a drink?"
Yasmin held the torch, dripping, and decided that her flippancy had officially stopped being funny at exactly the moment her pillow went squelch.
The next morning, Auntie Farah served hot chocolate while their sleeping bags steamed on the washing line.
"Camping again next weekend?" asked Dad.
Yasmin opened her mouth to say something flippant about weather being a big drama queen. Instead she said, "Yes. And I'm pegging all four corners. Twice."
Word Definition
flippant
meaning
not showing a serious or respectful attitude when one is expected; making jokes about things that should be taken seriously
synonyms
frivolous · glib · cheeky · disrespectful · facetious
antonyms
serious · respectful · earnest
example sentence
Her flippant reply annoyed the headteacher.