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
Werner thought little of Haydn: he regarded him as an adventurer and musical frivol; but Haydn, as became the bigger man, esteemed Werner.
From Haydn by Runciman, John F.
Do the girls who jest and frivol with the young men with whom they are brought in contact, realise their responsibility in all they say and do?
From Betty Trevor by Prout, Victor
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
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.
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 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)
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.
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
Prue was the locust, frivoling away the summer.
From In a Little Town by Hughes, Rupert
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.]
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
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
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
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
I suppose you think I have no right to be frivolling in these very serious times, but I am afraid I am rather an offender when the humour takes me.
From Nobody's Man by Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)
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
I don't think there seemed to be any real harm in that sort of frivolling.
From Miss Million's Maid A Romance of Love and Fortune by Onions, Mrs. Oliver
Yachting on the Mediterranean, or frivolling on the Riviera.
From A Safety Match by Hay, Ian
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.
