insignificant
Americanadjective
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unimportant, trifling, or petty.
Omit the insignificant details.
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too small to be important.
an insignificant sum.
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of no consequence, influence, or distinction.
a minor, insignificant bureaucrat.
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without weight of character; contemptible.
an insignificant fellow.
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without meaning; meaningless.
insignificant sounds.
noun
adjective
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having little or no importance; trifling
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almost or relatively meaningless
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small or inadequate
an insignificant wage
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not distinctive in character, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of insignificant
First recorded in 1620–30; in- 3 + significant
Explanation
When something is insignificant, it doesn't matter. The fact that your mom gets to school a half hour late becomes insignificant when she announces you're stopping for ice cream on the way home. The word signify, which is at the heart of insignificant, means "to mean." Significant means "meaningful." Add in- "not," and you have "not meaningful." A company can fire a worker from an insignificant job and still function. In a crisis, your feelings are insignificant; it is your actions that matter.
Vocabulary lists containing insignificant
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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The Alchemist
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The Secret Life of Bees
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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.
You can find lots of inspirational quotes reminding you that 40 is just the beginning, but that framing is false, and diminishes our not insignificant life experience.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 12, 2026
There is, though, the not insignificant matter of England winning a quarter-final, semi-final and final first.
From BBC • Jul. 9, 2026
Kagan insists that the Fourth Amendment cannot be defeated by slicing invasions of privacy into pieces small enough to appear constitutionally insignificant.
From Slate • Jun. 29, 2026
Recent polling suggests that, ahead of Tuesday’s primary, incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has what pollsters deem a statistically insignificant lead in her bid for reelection as the city’s top executive.
From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2026
In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
