piffling

[ pif-ling ]

/ ˈpɪf lɪŋ /

adjective

of little worth; trifling; piddling: piffling efforts.

Nearby words

piezomagnetic effect, piezometer, piezometry, pif, piffle, piffling, pig, pig bed, pig boiling, pig dog, pig fern

Origin of piffling

First recorded in 1890–95; piffle + -ing²

Definition for piffling (2 of 2)

piffle

[ pif-uh l ]

/ ˈpɪf əl /

Informal.

noun

nonsense, as trivial or senseless talk.

verb (used without object), pif·fled, pif·fling.

to talk nonsense.

Origin of piffle

First recorded in 1840–50; perhaps akin to puff

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for piffling

Maybe it's only a piffling pocket, and we'll get souped for our pains.
The Trail of '98|Robert W. Service
Earthly marriages are piffling in comparison with that ceremony.
The Skylark of Space|Edward Elmer Smith and Lee Hawkins Garby
Why don't you cut out all this piffling holy talk and go in for something you can do?
The Preacher of Cedar Mountain|Ernest Thompson Seton
This was no piffling little Gizeh pyramid, no simple tomb for a king.
The Sky Is Falling|Lester del Rey

Well; first, I knew my daughter couldn't be the piffling lunatic who does your war cookery articles.
The Title|Arnold Bennett

British Dictionary definitions for piffling (1 of 2)

piffling

/ (ˈpɪflɪŋ) /

adjective

worthless, trivial

British Dictionary definitions for piffling (2 of 2)

piffle

/ (ˈpɪfəl) informal /

noun

nonsenseto talk piffle

verb

(intr) to talk or behave feebly

Word Origin for piffle

C19: origin uncertain

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012