glib
/ɡlɪb
/adjective (glibber, glibbest)
(Of words or a speaker) fluent but insincere and shallow: the glib phrases soon roll off the tongue...
- In general I try to avoid the easy, the glib, and the oversimplified in my books.
- Listen to some glib talk by speakers at the ground-breaking ceremony of the project and infer what you can.
- This scheme finally gives real meaning to the glib phrase ‘low cost housing’.
Synonyms
slick, pat, neat, plausible, silky, smooth-talking, fast-talking;
smooth, urbane, smooth-tongued, silver-tongued, smooth-spoken;
fluent, voluble, loquacious, having kissed the Blarney Stone;
disingenuous, insincere, facile, shallow, superficial, simplistic, oversimplified, easy, ready, flippant
informal flip, sweet-talking, with the gift of the gab
Derivatives
glibly
/ adverb ...- The story is so broad in scope, yet so glibly simplified, each element is glanced over lightly.
- But it can also lead to impulsive behavior (ready, shoot, aim) and confident leaders who glibly take their followers over a cliff.
- People who talk glibly about ‘intelligence failure’ act as if intelligence agencies that are doing their job right would know everything.
glibness
/ noun ...- It is a valuable and articulate polemic against the glibness of liberal internationalism, its ideological license and its bouts of arrogance.
- If you're able to say that with such disgusting and self-important glibness, you are putting yourself on the same moral level with the monsters who did this crime.
- It happens, of course, but the glibness with which it's used to build up the character bothers me.
Origin
Late 16th century (also in the sense 'smooth, unimpeded'): ultimately of Germanic origin; related to Dutch 'slippery' and German glibberig 'slimy'.
There are a number of other words, such as greasy, oily, and slimy, that link the idea of smoothness and slipperiness with insincere speech or behaviour. To give a glib answer is to speak fluently but insincerely and shallowly; one of its first meanings, in the late 16th century, was ‘smooth or unimpeded’. It is ultimately of Germanic origin and related to Dutch glibberig ‘slippery’, and German glibberig ‘slimy’.