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

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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

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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

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

Out of magnanimity, I’ll liken this trifle to a Rothko.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

This tour has ended like all the others – injuries, collapses in form and a selection trifle.

From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2026

As to Inigo’s personal life, he was always just a trifle hungry, he had no brothers or sisters, and his mother had died in childbirth.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

As the judge in that case noted, the law is not concerned with insignificant trifles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2025

“It’s all over Pinterest,” said Kraft Heinz’s Molly White, referring to the flurry of Fourth-of-July trifles and “fluff” salads.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2025

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

When we met him at one of his stores he always had a sundry basket of treats for her, trifles from his shelves, bars of dark chocolate, exotic tropical fruits, tissue-wrapped biscotti.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

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

Her aim is to silence the messenger and leave the impression that she isn’t to be trifled with by the media, shades of Margaret Thatcher.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024

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

“I said, ‘Luke, this heat is not to be trifled with,’” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2023

He warned that Robert Millikan’s proud institution in Pasadena was not to be trifled with.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

At first blush, that may seem like a trifling concept.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

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

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026

Frankly, the more trifling the crime, the better this franchise’s comedy aspirations would work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 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

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