Etymology A shortening of either obsolete English glibbery (“slippery”) or its source, Low German glibberig, glibberich (“slippery”) / Dutch glibberig (“slippery”).
1
Having a ready flow of words but lacking thought or understanding; superficial; shallow.
glib anwers
A much more thorough examination of this period is essential, and no glib answers should be accepted as good coin.2004 August 26, Leslie Feinberg, “Survival with Setbacks”, in Workers World:
2 more examples
As history is raided, indeed raped, by identitarians and populists, glib judgments on the past become fodder for every tribal grievance.2019 February 14, Simon Jenkins, “The Churchill row is part of the glib approach to history that gave us Brexit”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Rather than elevating the prose, the rhymes feel glib and the sentiment vague, shorthand for an unspecified intensity: “They wanted things they couldn’t name; they wanted rest. They wanted change.”2026 April 28, Shahidha Bari, “Having Spent Life Seeking by Kae Tempest review – painfully earnest tale of trauma and transition”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Artfully persuasive but insincere in nature; smooth-talking, honey-tongued, silver-tongued.
a glib tongue
a glib speech
4 more examples
a glib politician
I want that glib and oily art, / To speak and purpose not.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
"We are concerned that both the ITC and Ofcom appear to have accepted this glib attempt at justification. We are far from reassured in respect of programming for the Meridian region and for the ITV network, and believe that Ofcom should be much more vigilant on this issue.2004 March 4, Owen Gibson, “Ofcom urged to crack down on 'glib' ITV”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
“We see the UK government talking about having victims’ voices heard,” said [Sienna] Merope-Synge. “They have talked about the need for zero tolerance and about leadership. But there are a whole bunch of victims of UN abuse who perceive the UK as very glib about supporting victims.”2018 March 13, Karen McVeigh, quoting Sienna Merope-Synge, “'Glib': UK criticised for failing to give to fund for survivors of UN sexual abuse”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
4
Snarky or unserious in a disrespectful way.
Sometimes our relationship is strained, for though we both recognize each other's intelligence, he think's I'm often too serious and I think he's often too glib1986, Daniel Garrett, “Creating Ourselves: An Open Letter”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology, page 93:
Its style is both open and arch, never verging on glib camp but always a little removed, reducing large emotions to small observations and thereby making them all the more effective.1988 December 25, Michael Bronski, “...And They Called It Puppy Love”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 24, page 8:
1 more example
When Mr. Franco called Mr. McCarthy and asked why he had written a book about such a repellent character, he was glib. "He said, verbatim, 'I don't know, James, probably some dumb-ass reason,'" Mr. Franco recalled.2013 October 11, Alexandra Alter, “Literary Giant Obsessed by Movies”, in The Wall Street Journal, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2015:
Etymology A shortening of either obsolete English glibbery (“slippery”) or its source, Low German glibberig, glibberich (“slippery”) / Dutch glibberig (“slippery”).
1
To make smooth or slippery.
1628, Joseph Hal, “Christian Liberty Laid Forth,” in The Works of the Right Reverend Father in God, Joseph Hall, D.D., Volume V, London: Williams & Smith, 1808, p. 366, https://books.google.ca/books?id=8iUBAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false There is a drunken liberty of the Tongue; which, being once glibbed with intoxicating liquor, runs wild through heaven and earth; and spares neither him that is God above, nor those which are called gods on earth.
And, when to all his Angels he propos'd / To draw the proud king Ahab into fraud, / That he might fall in Ramoth, they demurring, / I undertook that office, and the tongues / Of all his flattering Prophets glibb'd with lyes / To his destruction, as I had in charge.1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 21, lines 371–376:
2 more examples
They are good internally in Fits of the Stone in the Kidneys, by glibbing the Ureters, and making even a large Stone pass with ease […]1730, Edward Strother, Dr. Radcliffe’s Practical Dispensatory, London: C. Rivington, page 342:
We were having one of our bitterest cold snaps. Wind due north, shrieking over stiff land; two feet of snow, all substances glibbed with ice and granite-hard.1944, Emily Carr, “Gran’s Battle”, in The House of All Sorts:
glib
noun
Etymology A shortening of either obsolete English glibbery (“slippery”) or its source, Low German glibberig, glibberich (“slippery”) / Dutch glibberig (“slippery”).
"Well, Sal, you mum your dubber pretty generally, but when you do slacken your glib you may as well do it civilly."1857, Hidden Links; Or the Schoolfellows. A Tale, volume 2, page 233:
glib
noun
Etymology Borrowed from Irish glib.
1
Historical A mass of matted hair worn down over the eyes, formerly common in Ireland.
Whom when she saw in wretched weedes disguiz'd, / With heary glib deform'd and meiger face, / Like ghost late risen from his grave agryz'd, / She knew him not […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
The Irish have, from the Scythians, mantles and long glibs, which is a thick curled bush of hair hanging down over their eyes, and monstrously disguising them.1596 (date written; published 1633), Edmund Spenser, A Vewe of the Present State of Irelande […], Dublin: […] Societie of Stationers, […], →OCLC; republished as A View of the State of Ireland […] (Ancient Irish Histories), Dublin: […] Society of Stationers, […] Hibernia Press, […] [b]y John Morrison, 1809, →OCLC:
2 more examples
Their wild costume of the glib and mantle.1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More, or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society:
But in the dead of njight, who should come in but James Desmond, sword in hand, with a dozen of his ruffians at his heels, each with his glib over his ugly face, and his skene in his hand.1855, Charles Kingsley, “Clovelly Court in the Olden Time”, in Westward Ho!: Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, […], volume I, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 163:
glib
verb
Etymology Compare Old English and dialectal English lib (“to castrate, geld”), dialectal Danish live, Low German and Old Dutch lubben.
Fourteen they shall not see To bring false generations. They are co-heirs; And I had rather glib myself than they Should not produce fair issue.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]: