Glib

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Grammarist

Glib is an interesting word that some find confusing. We will examine the definition of the word glib, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

Glib describes someone who is a smooth talker, someone who speaks easily and fluently, someone who is convincing in speech. However, someone who is speaking in a glib manner is usually insincere, and is trying to convince someone that something is better or more important than it is, or is trying to perpetrate a fraud of some sort. Glib describes an eloquent speaker, but usually one who has an ulterior motive. To call someone glib is usually a minor insult, or a challenge. The word glib is derived from the German word glibberig which means slippery or slimy. Related words are glibber, glibbest, glibly, glibness.

Examples

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg fired back at Tim Cook, arguing the Apple CEO’s recent criticism about the social media company and its handling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal was “extremely glib.” (USA Today)

But I, Tonya too often feels glib and glancing, holding the public responsible for many of the easy assumptions and narrative shortcuts the film itself indulges in while telling Harding’s story. (The Atlantic)

A lawyer representing the mothers of the 11 “peacekeeper babies” in Haiti said survivors of UN abuse see the UK as “very glib about supporting victims”. (The Guardian)

Some may believe the question to be glib but coming from the man with the only non-white face around the top table it was also uncomfortable, and deliberately so. (The Times)

Recall McGowan’s glib election campaign material stating that a Labor government would “pay down debt slowly and carefully, like paying off a house” — a sentiment utterly at odds with the scale of the fiscal problem he identified. (The West Australian)