43 words starting with F

• facetious adjective

  treating serious matters with jokes that don’t fit the moment

  His facetious comment during the safety drill annoyed the teacher.

  Like flippant, tongue-in-cheek

• factious adjective

  tending to split into opposing groups that argue

  The factious committee could never agree on a plan for the festival.

  Like divisive, quarrelsome, contentious

• factotum noun

  a person employed to do all kinds of jobs

  As the hotel’s factotum, Hari fixes taps, carries bags and even cooks.

  Like handyman, jack-of-all-trades

• fallow adjective

  (of land) plowed but left unplanted to recover; inactive

  The farmer left the field fallow for a season so the soil could rest.

  Like uncultivated, unplanted, dormant

• fastidious adjective

  very careful about details and hard to please

  The fastidious cook wiped every plate twice before serving.

  Like meticulous, particular, fussy

• fatuity noun

  smug, unthinking foolishness

  The fatuity of his plan to cross the river without a bridge was clear to everyone.

  Like foolishness, silliness, inanity

• fatuous adjective

  silly and pointless, without awareness of being foolish

  He made a fatuous remark about the weather while everyone was busy working.

  Like silly, inane, vacuous

• fawn verb

  to flatter someone too much to win their favor

  The salesman fawned over every customer who walked in.

  Like grovel, toady, flatter

• fealty noun

  sworn loyalty to a lord or ruler

  In medieval times, knights swore fealty to their king.

  Like allegiance, loyalty, fidelity

• feckless adjective

  lacking energy, purpose or ability; irresponsible

  The feckless assistant forgot to order the supplies again.

  Like irresponsible, ineffectual, shiftless

• fecund adjective

  producing abundant growth or offspring; very fertile

  The fecund soil of the Terai produces two rice harvests a year.

  Like fertile, productive, prolific

• fecundity noun

  the ability to produce abundant crops, offspring or ideas

  The fecundity of rabbits means a few can become hundreds in a year.

  Like fertility, productivity, fruitfulness

• felicitous adjective

  well chosen and perfectly suited to the situation

  Her felicitous choice of words made the speech memorable.

  Like apt, fitting, appropriate

• felicity noun

  great happiness; a pleasing, well-chosen way of expressing something

  The poet wrote with such felicity that every line seemed perfect.

  Like bliss, joy, aptness

• fervid adjective

  intensely enthusiastic, sometimes too much so

  The fervid fans sang and cheered from the first whistle to the last.

  Like passionate, ardent, fervent

• fetid adjective

  smelling extremely unpleasant, as of rot

  A fetid smell rose from the blocked drain behind the market.

  Like stinking, foul, rank

• fetter verb

  to restrict someone’s freedom, as if with chains

  Fear of failure should not fetter your curiosity.

  Like restrain, shackle, hamper

• fiat noun

  an official order given by someone with authority

  The new holiday was declared by government fiat.

  Like decree, edict, order

• filial adjective

  relating to the duties of a son or daughter toward parents

  Out of filial duty, she cooked for her parents every evening.

• finagle verb

  to get something by clever and slightly dishonest means

  He finagled an extra ticket to the concert by charming the usher.

  Like wangle, maneuver, wheedle

• firebrand noun

  a person who passionately stirs up others to act or protest

  The young firebrand urged the town to save the old forest from the bulldozers.

  Like agitator, troublemaker, activist

• flaccid adjective

  soft and limp, not firm

  Without water, the plant’s leaves became flaccid and drooped.

  Like limp, floppy, slack

• florid adjective

  too elaborately decorated; (of a face) red

  The essay was written in a florid style, full of long, fancy words.

  Like ornate, flowery, flamboyant

• flotsam noun

  wreckage or rubbish floating on water

  After the storm, flotsam from the broken boats covered the lake’s shore.

  Like wreckage, debris

• flounder verb

  to struggle clumsily; to be confused and make mistakes

  The new student floundered in the advanced math class at first.

  Like struggle, falter, stumble

• flout verb

  to openly ignore a rule or custom

  Some drivers flout the speed limit on the highway.

  Like defy, disregard, scorn

• foible noun

  a small, harmless weakness or odd habit in someone’s character

  One of Grandpa’s foibles is that he must eat lunch at exactly noon.

  Like quirk, weakness, idiosyncrasy

• foist verb

  to force someone to accept something unwanted

  The older students foisted the cleaning duties onto the new arrivals.

  Like impose, palm off, unload

• foment verb

  to stir up trouble or disorder

  A few loud spectators tried to foment trouble between the two teams’ fans.

  Like incite, instigate, provoke

• fop noun

  a man who cares too much about his clothes and appearance

  In the old comedy, the fop spends an hour choosing his hat.

  Like dandy, peacock

• forbear verb

  to hold back from doing or saying something, out of self-control or kindness

  She forbore from laughing when her friend tripped on the stage.

  Like refrain, abstain, desist

• forbearance noun

  patient self-control and tolerance

  The teacher showed great forbearance with the noisy class.

  Like patience, tolerance, restraint

• forswear verb

  to solemnly give up or renounce something

  After the stomachache, he forswore eating street food for a month.

  Like renounce, abandon, give up

• fracas noun

  a noisy disturbance or quarrel

  A fracas broke out at the bus station when two buses tried to take the same spot.

  Like commotion, brawl, scuffle

• fractious adjective

  irritable and difficult to control

  The fractious goat refused to be led into the shed.

  Like unruly, irritable, cranky

• frenetic adjective

  fast, energetic and wild in an uncontrolled way

  Shops were full of frenetic activity in the days before Dashain.

  Like frantic, hectic, feverish

• froward adjective

  stubbornly disobedient and hard to deal with

  The froward child refused every request his mother made.

  Like contrary, perverse, willful

• fulminate verb

  to protest loudly and angrily

  The old man fulminated against the loud music coming from next door.

  Like rail, rant, inveigh

• fulsome adjective

  (of praise) so excessive that it seems insincere

  His fulsome compliments made everyone at the table uncomfortable.

  Like excessive, effusive, overdone

• funereal adjective

  gloomy and solemn, suited to a funeral

  The empty stadium had a funereal silence after the home team lost.

  Like somber, gloomy, mournful

• furor noun

  an outburst of public anger or excitement

  The new school rule about phones caused a furor among students.

  Like uproar, outcry, commotion

• furtive adjective

  done secretly to avoid being noticed

  He cast a furtive glance at the cookie jar when his mother left the room.

  Like secretive, stealthy, sly

• fusty adjective

  smelling stale and damp; old-fashioned

  The fusty old storeroom had not been opened in years.

  Like musty, stale, old-fashioned