glibber; glibbest
1
a
: showing little forethought or preparation : offhand
glib answers
b
: marked by ease and informality : nonchalant
c
: lacking depth and substance : superficial
glib solutions to knotty problems
2
: marked by ease and fluency in speaking or writing often to the point of being insincere or deceitful
a glib politician
3
archaic : smooth, slippery
glibly adverb
glibness noun

Examples of glib in a Sentence

Or they could have saddled us with "The Stranger," which had the mitigating charm of being glib and pretentious and would thus have kept the kids who were obviously going to end up at Bard happy. Joe Queenan, New York Times Book Review, 3 June 2007
The problem was that the candidate anticipated all the questions, knew all the answers and tended to pop out the reply the moment the question was asked; it made him seem like a smart aleck, too glib. William Safire, New York Times Magazine, 16 June 1991
Some of the glibbest persons in the nation are oddly tongue-tied when the Bible is brought up. Garry Wills, Under God, 1990
I expected a glib ladies' man, which he's not. He is an introspective man with deep emotions. Loni Anderson, quoted in People Weekly, 6 Nov. 1989
Politicians need to do more than provide glib answers to difficult questions. the actor's glib portrayal of a drug addict
Recent Examples on the Web The demonstration in Fort Lauderdale was emblematic of the kind of congressman Gaetz would be: showy, glib, and relentlessly antagonistic to institutional norms. Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 Set in the Cloudy Falls residence, a run-down apartment complex in Niagara Falls that seems destined to be torn down, the film tells the story of a handful of its tenants, chosen at random by the narrator, Rita (Susan Berger), the building’s glib superintendent. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 9 Feb. 2024 Emmerich’s bombastic approach to destruction renders the action glib and meaningless. Robert Rubsam, New York Times, 4 Jan. 2024 And indeed, behind the bright headlines the economic landscape also warns against a too glib dismissal of future economic trouble. Milton Ezrati, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023 There are insightful spankings of Bill Clinton, JFK and Richard Nixon, as well as a glib reminiscence of being spanked, literally, by Margaret Thatcher. David Amsden, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2024 Her trickery reveals the glib politics of a generation that has inherited casual unearned license. Armond White, National Review, 13 Dec. 2023 Being glib is hardly the most important attribute of a candidate. WSJ, 23 Nov. 2023 That’s an awfully glib connection to make, especially for an architect whose centerpiece fantasia at Hudson Yards has been closed for more than two years because visitors were, entirely predictably, jumping off. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 23 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'glib.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

probably modification of Low German glibberig slippery

First Known Use

1584, in the meaning defined at sense 1b

Time Traveler
The first known use of glib was in 1584

Dictionary Entries Near glib

Cite this Entry

“Glib.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glib. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

glib

adjective
glibber; glibbest
: speaking or spoken with careless ease and often with little regard for truth
a glib excuse
glibly adverb
glibness noun

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