fiddling

[fid-ling]

adjective

1. trifling; trivial.

   a fiddling sum of money.

fiddling

/ ˈfɪdlɪŋ /

adjective

1. trifling or insignificant; petty

2. another word for fiddly

Word History and Origins

Origin of fiddling¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; fiddle, -ing ²

Example Sentences

Cassiopeia asked Alexander, who was already fiddling with his compass.

Read more on Literature

As I sat at the kitchen table still fiddling with my oatmeal, I couldn’t get my brother Charlie out of my mind.

Read more on Literature

That means any game made for PC is going to work here - even if it takes a bit of fiddling to make it run properly.

Read more on BBC

Updike stuck up for himself when faced with the magazine’s intrusively correct fiddling: In 1958 he sent one editor, William Maxwell, an unwavering paragraph against a single word.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Beckett was famously unforgiving when it came to fiddling with his works; his estate would not likely countenance egregious diversions from the “Godot” text.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bribery 
• crime 
• exploitation 
• extortion 
• fraud 
• graft 
• malfeasance 
• nepotism