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:
Some of her patients apologized for the seeming triviality of their traumas compared with the horrors she survived.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
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
The pangrams from yesterday’s Spelling Bee were triviality, trivially, and virality.
From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2022
This is not glamorous, but I do think, in its triviality, and in its, let's say, almost monstrosity, we can relate to that.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2021
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
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
White House staffers ultimately did respond after the article was published, knocking Politico for focusing on trivialities.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2021
And perhaps this is the rationale of all risky sports: You deliberately raise the ante of effort and concentration in order, as it were, to clear your mind of trivialities.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
