bagatelle

American  

[bag-uh-tel] / ˌbæg əˈtɛl /

noun

1. something of little value or importance; a trifle.

   "A mere bagatelle," she murmured in response to my admiration of her ring.

2. a game played on a board having holes at one end into which balls are to be struck with a cue.

3. pinball.

4. a short and light musical composition, typically for the piano.

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bagatelle British  

/ ˌbæɡəˈtɛl /

noun

1. something of little value or significance; trifle

2. a board game in which balls are struck into holes, with pins as obstacles; pinball

3. another name for bar billiards

4. a short light piece of music, esp for piano

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Etymology

Origin of bagatelle

First recorded in 1630–40; from French, from Italian bagat(t)ella, equivalent to bagatt(a) “small possession,” perhaps a derivative of bag(a) “berry” (from Latin bāca, bacca ) + -att(a), diminutive suffix + -ella, from Latin -illa diminutive suffix; cf. bay ⁴

Explanation

A bagatelle is a trifle or a trinket — a little thing without too much importance or value. You might wake on Christmas morning to find your stocking full of bagatelles. Use the noun bagatelle when you're talking about something that's purely decorative, like a bauble or knickknack, or that's very easily done. For example, you might say, "Oh watching your cat was such a bagatelle — I really didn't have to do a thing!" The word is French, meaning "knick-knack, bauble, or trinket," from the diminutive form of the Latin baca, or "berry."

Example Sentences

If anything, the slowly accumulating final chord of the bagatelle could have set up the softly arpeggiated one at the start of “Twilight Way,” the first of the “Poetic Tone Pictures.”

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2023

But that case involved tens of thousands of dollars - a mere bagatelle compared to the monster cryptocurrency scam whose story is being told in an enthralling BBC podcast.

From BBC • Sep. 26, 2019

In 2008, he made his first feature, “Medicine for Melancholy,” a winsome bagatelle starring Wyatt Cenac as a San Francisco hipster who embarks on a fleeting romance when a one-night-stand turns into a 24-hour walk-and-talkathon.

From Washington Post • Dec. 14, 2018

He felt moved, with no greater desire than to create a comic bagatelle, to see if he could out-Kanye Kanye, just as the poem declares.

From Slate • Oct. 12, 2018

And there they smoked, jumped, swung on horizontal bars, boxed, played at cards and bagatelle, free from interference save when interference became necessary.

From A Child of the Jago by Morrison, Arthur