trifle

American  

[trahy-fuhl] / ˈtraɪ fəl /

noun

• trifles
  plural

1. an article or thing of very little value.

   Synonyms:

   toy, bauble

2. a matter, affair, or circumstance of trivial importance or significance.

3. a small, inconsiderable, or trifling sum of money.

4. a small quantity or amount of anything; a little.

   She's still a trifle angry.

5. a literary, musical, or artistic work of a light or trivial character having no great or lasting merit; bagatelle.

6. a kind of pewter of medium hardness.

7. trifles, articles made of this.

8. English Cooking. a dessert usually consisting of custard and cake soaked in wine or liqueur, and jam, fruit, or the like.

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verb (used without object)

trifled, trifling

1. to deal lightly or without due seriousness or respect.

   Don't trifle with me!

2. to play or toy by handling or fingering.

   He sat trifling with a pen.

3. to act or talk in an idle or frivolous way.

4. to pass time idly or frivolously; waste time; idle.

verb (used with object)

trifled, trifling

1. to pass or spend (time) idly or frivolously (usually followed byaway ).

   Synonyms:

   fritter

trifle British  

/ ˈtraɪfəl /

noun

1. a thing of little or no value or significance

2. a small amount; bit

   a trifle more enthusiasm

3. a cold dessert made with sponge cake spread with jam or fruit, soaked in wine or sherry, covered with a custard sauce and cream, and decorated

4. a type of pewter of medium hardness

5. articles made from this pewter

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verb

1. to deal (with) as if worthless; dally

   to trifle with a person's affections

2. to waste (time) frivolously

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• trifler
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trifles
  plural

Etymology

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

Explanation

A trifle is something that's totally unimportant. If your friend is freaking out over which poster to buy and you call her dilemma a trifle, you're saying she shouldn't get so worked up over nothing. Trifle comes from the Middle English trufle, meaning "fraud, joke, trick." You'll usually hear it used to mean "insignificant, trivial." If you write a little ditty to sing at a birthday party, you could say it's just a trifle. As a verb, trifle means "toy with, waste." If you play with someone's feelings without seriously meaning anything, you are trifling with his affection. Trifle is also a sweet, sticky cake. Don't trifle the day away dreaming about trifle. Make some!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trifle trifles trifled trifling

The game badly misses Alcaraz—“Tennis needs him,” Sinner said Sunday—but no tennis player should trifle with a bad wrist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Travolta’s infectious enthusiasm carried over into the movie itself, a semi-autobiographical trifle about his childhood love of air travel.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

Still, it is the frolicsome rapport between the two stars that gives this comic trifle of a play its allure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

Looking towards Christmas, the baker said he would be making a triple chocolate tart for his cousin Grace and might recreate his trifle from the show.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025

“And what about you?” he said, a trifle belligerently.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

She’s interested in adding regular savories such as pasties and sausage rolls, and maybe bringing new treats such as trifles or Eton Messes to her roster.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024

Other, seemingly familiar terms — romper room, sherry trifles — have their innocence stripped from them to reveal a second, more sinister meaning.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2022

The "micro" prefix in the word microplastics might lead one to think that these tiny plastic particles, by definition less than 5 millimeters in length, are harmless trifles.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2022

The Ray Anthony Orchestra was a prolific ensemble, releasing countless dance singles in the early 1950s, including “The Hokey Pokey” and “The Bunny Hop” — swinging trifles that captured a national audience almost immediately.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2022

Harry knew better than to think the match would be canceled; Quidditch matches weren’t called off for trifles like thunderstorms.

From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling

Let’s say this up front: A wrist on the racket hand isn’t the sort of injury to be trifled with.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

He was not one to be trifled with.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2023

Then again, silence, that sharpest of double-edged swords, is not a weapon easily trifled with: What ensures survival in one regime equals death in another.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2023

From eating holes in people's brains to generating nasty tumors to putting folks in comas, some fungi are not to be trifled with.

From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2023

“It reminded everyone that you are my apprentice, and you are not to be trifled with!”

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

The traffic cone guys weren't letting such trifling issues dampen their day.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

But it’s the songs that talk about brushing off stifling, trifling men, including the title track and “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” that have the most staying power.

From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2026

Before IMG and ProServ, athletes typically got trifling rewards for endorsing products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026

The planet’s trifling atmosphere—about 1 percent the density of our own—is notoriously too thin to help slow down a spacecraft attempting to land, but can still create turbulence and potential disaster.

From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2025

Dad said we should stay vigilant, but by winter my attention had shifted back to the trifling dramas of my own life.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover