different between quip vs frivolous

English

Etymology

Perhaps from Latin quippe (“indeed”), ultimately quid (“what”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: kw?p, IPA^(key): /kw?p/, [k?w??p]
• Rhymes: -?p

Noun

quip (plural quips)

1. A smart, sarcastic turn or jest; a taunt; a severe retort or comeback; a gibe.
   • 1645, John Milton, L'Allegro

     Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles.

   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, The Death of the Old Year

     He was full of joke and jest, / But all his merry quips are o'er.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:joke

Derived terms

• quipful

Translations

Verb

quip (third-person singular simple present quips, present participle quipping, simple past and past participle quipped)

1. (intransitive) To make a quip.
2. (transitive) To taunt; to treat with quips.
   • 1957, H. E. Bates, Death of a Huntsman

     He did not really mind being quipped; the city gentlemen made him used to that sort of thing.

Translations

Anagrams

• Puqi

English

Etymology

From Latin fr?volus (“silly, empty, trifling, frivolous, worthless”), with the ending modified to match -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f??v.?l.?s/
• Hyphenation: friv?o?lous

Adjective

frivolous (comparative more frivolous, superlative most frivolous)

1. Silly, especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner.
2. Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight.
3. (law, said of a lawsuit) Having no reasonable prospect of success because its claim is without merit, lacking a supporting legal or factual basis, while the filing party is, or should be, aware of this.
   • 2005, Factcheck.org^[1]:

     One of the major cost drivers in the delivery of health care are these junk and frivolous lawsuits.

Derived terms

• frivolent
• frivolously
• frivolousness

Related terms

• frivol
• frivolity

Translations

Further reading

• frivolous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• frivolous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.