trivial

[ triv-ee-uhl ]

adjective

1. of very little importance or value; insignificant:

   Don't bother me with trivial matters.

   Synonyms: unimportant, trifling, frivolous, inconsequential, immaterial, slight, nugatory

   Antonyms: important

2. commonplace; ordinary.
3. Biology. (of names of organisms) specific, as distinguished from generic.
4. Mathematics.
   1. noting a solution of an equation in which the value of every variable of the equation is equal to zero.
   2. (of a theorem, proof, or the like) simple, transparent, or immediately evident.
5. Chemistry. (of names of chemical compounds) derived from the natural source, or of historic origin, and not according to the systematic nomenclature:

   Picric acid is the trivial name of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol.

trivial

/ ˈtrɪvɪəl /

adjective

1. of little importance; petty or frivolous

   trivial complaints

2. ordinary or commonplace; trite

   trivial conversation

3. maths (of the solutions of a set of homogeneous equations) having zero values for all the variables
4. biology denoting the specific name of an organism in binomial nomenclature
5. biology chem denoting the popular name of an organism or substance, as opposed to the scientific one
6. of or relating to the trivium

Derived Forms

• ˈtrivially, adverb
• ˈtrivialness, noun

Other Words From

• trivi·al·ly adverb
• super·trivi·al adjective
• un·trivi·al adjective
• un·trivi·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of trivial¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin triviālis “belonging to the crossroads or street corner,” hence “commonplace,” equivalent to tri- “three” + vi(a) “road” + -ālis adjective suffix; tri-, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of trivial¹

C15: from Latin triviālis belonging to the public streets, common, from trivium crossroads, junction of three roads, from tri- + via road

Synonym Study

See petty.

Example Sentences

We are not talking about a trivial difference over policy — or even a major one.

From Washington Post

Leaving your camera off for a call you don’t need to be visible for makes for a small — but not trivial — savings in carbon emissions.

From TechCrunch

It just has to be a non-trivial cost for someone who was on the margin.

From Freakonomics

That would be so regardless of how much the aliens shattered the beliefs people held about their own societies, whose beloved differences would look trivial by comparison to those with the Little Green Men.

From Nautilus

The axion has all the right properties, which is not trivial at all.

From Quanta Magazine

And more trivial modifications like altering bodily odors and promoting a healthy lifestyle.

From The Daily Beast

Harping about a Republican war on women while wages stagnate and growth sputters is trivial and desperate.

From The Daily Beast

The most riveting stories so far deal with trivial matters that sound like deleted scenes from a George Costanza fever dream.

From The Daily Beast

Seemingly trivial facts gathered from a variety of experiences can change the course of a future narrative.

From The Daily Beast

Clarification: in a country with vile, daily crimes against women it is wrong for privileged women to file trivial cases.

From The Daily Beast

Never did events of the utmost magnitude hinge on incidents so trivial to the community at large.

From Project Gutenberg

They merely used such instruments as fate offered, however trivial, however clumsy.

From Project Gutenberg

If she ignored his note it would give undue importance to a trivial affair.

From Project Gutenberg

They were little reasons, trivial grains of offence which through long years had accumulated into a mountain.

From Project Gutenberg

His secret thoughts he buried beneath a continuous mental preoccupation with the vain and the trivial.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• commonplace
• frivolous
• immaterial
• incidental
• inconsequential
• insignificant
• irrelevant
• meaningless
• minor
• negligible
• paltry
• petty
• superficial
• trite
• unimportant