frivol
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
verb
-
(intr) to behave frivolously; trifle
-
to waste on frivolous pursuits
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of frivol
First recorded in 1865–70; back formation from frivolous
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:
For his present visit, Gielgud apparently questioned the importance of being earnest: he would frivol first in Wilde's classic farce, later in Congreve's Restoration comedy, Love for Love.
From Time Magazine Archive
There were few awards in fields of frivol: Oscars, Tonys, Grammys didn't exist.
From Time Magazine Archive
He only signaled to another guard—this one taller and older—who said, “Step aside, please, or we’ll have to arrest you. This is not a place to frivol with.”
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
I can’t frivol with that big question unsolved, so I’m going away quietly by myself to think it out.
From An Unknown Lover by Vaizey, George de Horne, Mrs.
I've done nothing but dress and curl my hair, and polish my face, and dance, and flirt and frivol the time away.
From God's Good Man by Corelli, Marie
Where he had doubted, he was now convinced; where he had frivoled, he was in deep, intense earnest; the fact that there would be certain difficulties to overcome only seemed to strengthen the inward determination.
From Flaming June by Gilbert, A.
She sneered at his ills, And quadrupled his bills, And spent nearly twice what he earned; Her husband deserted, And frivoled, and flirted, Till Ferdinand’s reason was turned.
From Grimm Tales Made Gay by Levering, Albert
To him, life is a boon, a privilege, an investment, an opportunity, a responsibility, and, therefore, a gift too precious to be squandered or frivoled away.
From The Reconstructed School by Pearson, Francis B.
To think that I, Geoffrey Fox, who have frittered and frivoled, should have put on paper things which have burned into men's consciousness and have made them better.
From Mistress Anne by Wilson, F. Vaux (Francis Vaux)
Though, under the surface, life upon Blue Lake ranch was sufficiently tense, the remaining days of June frivoled by as bright and bonny as the little meadow-blues flirting with the field-flowers.
From Judith of Blue Lake Ranch by Gregory, Jackson
Perhaps this was intended to stifle persistent rumors of a rift between General Weygand and the Vichy Government, for otherwise it did not seem like the week for Vichymen to go frivoling.
From Time Magazine Archive
Falstaff, still the boon companion of the errant, frivoling Prince Hal, swaggers and swills in rich midsummer plenty.
From Time Magazine Archive
Howsomever, he had a head that could do plain thinking, a pair of shoulders that discouraged frivoling, and he was as square a piece of furniture as ever came out of a factory.
From Red Saunders His Adventures West & East by Phillips, Henry Wallace
Just think what I might be had I been prepared for life like Malcolm or Oliver, instead of wasting all my years frivoling.
From The Fifth Wheel A Novel by Prouty, Olive Higgins
Only occasionally I look forward to the time when I shall be an angel frivoling in the eternal blue!
From The Lady of the Decoration by Little, Frances, [pseud.]
He asked her all about herself, where she lived, if she got up early, if she was busy, if she frivolled, and arrived at a mental summary of her circumstances.
From Married Life The True Romance by Edginton, May
"If I have frivolled enough, it's about time you said something."
From Out of the Primitive by Bennet, Robert Ames
He felt it utterly unfair that she should sit alone by an empty hearth while he and Jean frivolled.
From The Tin Soldier by Bailey, Temple
Yachting on the Mediterranean, or frivolling on the Riviera.
From A Safety Match by Hay, Ian
“Stop frivolling, and let me get to my point!” commanded Raymonde.
From The Madcap of the School by Salmon, Balliol
Their life was one long revel in the sunshine; for the harvest mouse has this distinction also, that, like a Christian, he loves the blue of the sky and sleeps at night. frivolling.
From "Wee Tim'rous Beasties" Studies of Animal life and Character by English, Douglas
All day long the happy pair enjoyed each other’s company aloft, leaping from corn-ear to thistle-head, from thistle-head to poppy, and back again to corn-ear, feasting, frivolling, stalking bluebottles.
From "Wee Tim'rous Beasties" Studies of Animal life and Character by English, Douglas
She had a way of making the frivolling talk of the supper table appear a warrantable substitute for the things that Peter knew, even while he echoed her phrases, that he wasn't getting.
From The Lovely Lady by Grant, Gordon
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.
