flippant

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.

adj

1. Showing disrespect through a casual attitude, levity, and a lack of due seriousness; pert.
   The conversations had grown more adult over the years—she was less flippant, at least. 1998, Sylvia Brownrigg, The Metaphysical Touch
   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
   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
2. (archaic) glib; 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. (chiefly dialectal) nimble; limber.