trifling
Americanadjective
-
of very little importance; trivial; insignificant.
a trifling matter.
- Synonyms:
- inconsequential, slight, unimportant
- Antonyms:
- important
-
of small value, cost, or amount.
a trifling sum.
- Synonyms:
- piddling, negligible
-
frivolous; shallow; light.
trifling conversation.
-
mean; worthless.
noun
-
idle or frivolous conduct, talk, etc.
-
foolish delay or waste of time.
adjective
-
insignificant or petty
-
frivolous or idle
Related Words
See petty.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of trifling
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; see trifle, -ing 2, -ing 1
Explanation
If something is trifling it's really unimportant, of no consequence — "a trifling detail." Everything is relative, of course, and what might appear trifling to one person may take on deep importance for another. Clues are classically trifling things. As Sherlock Holmes explains to Dr. Watson when faced with a seemingly minor detail: "It is, of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles."
Vocabulary lists containing trifling
Life of Pi
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Fever 1793
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "T" "U" "V" and "W"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Trifling is not a word one likes to apply to lawmakers, but how else do you describe that kind of loutish behavior?
From Washington Post • Apr. 9, 2022
Trifling as it may at first appear, it will not be found a trifling advantage, in the progress of education, to attend to this circumstance.
From Practical Education, Volume II by Edgeworth, Maria
Trifling is the inclination That by words can be expressed.
From The Anglo-French Entente in the Seventeenth Century by Bastide, Charles
Trifling as this recital may appear, the circumstance was highly affecting to a person in my situation.
From An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans by Child, Lydia Maria Francis
Trifling with Luckee, the goddess of prosperity, is the height of folly.
From The Hindoos as they Are A Description of the Manners, Customs and the Inner Life of Hindoo Society in Bengal by Bose, Shib Chunder
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
