Dictionary.com

trifle

[ trahy-fuhl ]
/ ˈtraɪ fəl /
Save This Word!
See synonyms for: trifle / trifled / trifles / trifling on Thesaurus.com

noun
verb (used without object), tri·fled, tri·fling.
verb (used with object), tri·fled, tri·fling.
to pass or spend (time) idly or frivolously (usually followed by away).
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of trifle

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English tru(f)fle idle talk, deceit <Old French, variant of truf(f)e mockery, deceit; (v.) Middle English treoflen to mock <Old French trufler to make sport of

OTHER WORDS FROM trifle

trifler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use trifle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for trifle

trifle
/ (ˈtraɪfəl) /

noun
verb
(intr usually foll by with) to deal (with) as if worthless; dallyto trifle with a person's affections
to waste (time) frivolously

Derived forms of trifle

trifler, noun

Word Origin for trifle

C13: from Old French trufle mockery, from trufler to cheat
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
FEEDBACK