1
a
: glib, deceptive, or foolish talk
tired of listening to his jive
b
: the jargon of hipsters
c
: a special jargon of difficult or slang terms
street jive
2
: swing music or the dancing performed to it
jived; jiving
1
: to say foolish, deceptive, or unserious things to (someone)
He's jiving you.
2
1
: to talk in a foolish, deceptive, or unserious way : to talk jive (see jive entry 1 sense 1)
He's just jiving.
2
: to dance to or play jive (see jive entry 1 sense 2)
slang
: phony
if you are late getting to heaven, you will give Saint Peter some jive excuse—Langston Hughes
Did you know?
Jive vs. Jibe
People began confusing jive and jibe almost immediately after jive entered our language in the late 1920s. In particular, jive is often used as a variant for the sense of jibe meaning “agree,” as in “that doesn’t jive with my memory of what happened.” This use of jive, although increasingly common, is widely considered to be an error. Jibe, however, is accepted as a variant spelling of an entirely different word, which is gibe (“to utter taunting words”).
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Cite this Entry
“Jive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jive. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.
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