trivial

American  

[triv-ee-uhl] / ˈtrɪv i əl /

adjective

1. of very little importance or value; insignificant.

   Don't bother me with trivial matters.

   Synonyms:

   trifling, frivolous, inconsequential, immaterial, slight, nugatory, unimportant

   Antonyms:

   important

2. commonplace; ordinary.

3. Biology. (of names of organisms) specific, as distinguished from generic.

4. Mathematics.

   1. noting a solution of an equation in which the value of every variable of the equation is equal to zero.

   2. (of a theorem, proof, or the like) simple, transparent, or immediately evident.

5. Chemistry. (of names of chemical compounds) derived from the natural source, or of historic origin, and not according to the systematic nomenclature.

   Picric acid is the trivial name of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol.

---

trivial British  

/ ˈtrɪvɪəl /

adjective

1. of little importance; petty or frivolous

   trivial complaints

2. ordinary or commonplace; trite

   trivial conversation

3. maths (of the solutions of a set of homogeneous equations) having zero values for all the variables

4. biology denoting the specific name of an organism in binomial nomenclature

5. biology chem denoting the popular name of an organism or substance, as opposed to the scientific one

6. of or relating to the trivium

---

Synonym Usage

See petty.

Other Word Forms

• trivialness
  noun
• supertrivial
  adjective
• untrivial
  adjective
• trivially
  adverb
• untrivially
  adverb

---

Etymology

Origin of trivial

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin triviālis “belonging to the crossroads or street corner,” hence “commonplace,” equivalent to tri- “three” + vi(a) “road” + -ālis adjective suffix; see tri-, -al ¹

---

Explanation

Something that is trivial is not important or significant, such as the trivial details you shared with me about your trip to the post office this morning. Trivial can also describe something that isn't deep or meaningful, like a trivial movie that you'll forget about after the credits roll. It comes from the Latin word trivium: tri means "three" and via is "road." So a trivium is a "place where three roads meet," meaning a crossroads — just something ordinary. So something that is trivial is not worth remembering; it just isn't important.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trivial

While this decline is hardly trivial, it’s worth noting that in 2007, the actual rates were 4.9 and 5.9 percentage points lower for women and men, respectively.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

I know from my decades of work in public health—including at the nation’s largest health department and public hospital system—how often communication is treated as a final, trivial step.

From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026

But resorting to litigation rather than negotiating a settlement to this trivial dispute could open a new source of pain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Bizarrely, he insists on more contact tracing, as if oblivious to the fact that identified cases are a trivial proportion of the true pandemic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

It seemed a trivial thing for the state’s highest education official to spend time doing, but Kirby felt compelled to uphold the integrity of the no-pass, no-play rule.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• commonplace
• frivolous
• immaterial
• incidental
• inconsequential
• insignificant
• irrelevant
• meaningless
• minor
• negligible
• paltry
• petty
• superficial
• trite
• unimportant

---