noun
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the state or quality of being trivial
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something, such as a remark, that is trivial
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of triviality
Explanation
Triviality is a quality of being unimportant or insignificant. You might dislike most reality TV shows because of their triviality, preferring to watch documentaries about serious subjects. You can also use the word triviality to mean an unimportant detail: "Let's discuss world peace instead of focusing on trivialities like what's for lunch or which celebrities are getting divorced!" It comes from the Latin word trivium, which means "commonplace," but also "crossroads." Literally, it's a combination of tri, or "three," and via, "road." Hence, a trivium is an oh-so-ordinary "place where three roads meet."
Vocabulary lists containing triviality
Coraline
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Legendary Frybread Drive-In
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Surviving the Applewhites
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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.
See Examples For:
As editor of the A-hed, the offbeat story that’s been a fixture since 1941, I specialize in triviality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
“The era’s descriptors of femininity — sweetness, triviality, softness and indulgence — all became associated with chocolate,” CNN’s Casey Barber wrote.
From Salon ● Feb. 17, 2025
She honored those traces even as she ironically nailed their indefensible triviality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
He also took aim at the newspaper articles submitted as evidence of illicit newsgathering, saying they offered a "breathtaking level of triviality".
From BBC ● May 12, 2023
Lesson on lesson they’ve suffered through, recognizing, more profoundly each time, their indignity, shame, triviality.
From "Grendel" by John Gardner
All that matters in this moment is one of life's most edifying trivialities: snooker.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
Still, it would be hard to find another writer who brings Ms. Gaul’s particular strengths to what could have been merely esoteric culinary-history trivialities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
He sounded quite irritated that they were asking him about such trivialities when he is the one who has world leaders quaking in their boots as he re-makes the whole world in his image.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2025
An answer comes, indirectly, from the diary of Inge Jansen, the socialite wife of an NSB official: She didn’t mention the events at all, recording only her lunch engagements and other trivialities.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 1, 2023
Janet was fairly sure that Reiki was Japanese, Wicca was British, and yoga came from a different kind of Indian, but her mother had no time for such trivialities.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
