nontrivial

adjective

non·​triv·​i·​al ˌnän-ˈtri-vē-əl 

1

: not trivial : significant, important

a small but nontrivial amount

… engineering a power plant around the technology is a nontrivial problem.

—John Fleck

2

mathematics : having the value of at least one variable or term not equal to zero

a nontrivial solution

Examples of nontrivial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The simplest torus knot — indeed, the simplest nontrivial knot, period — is called a trefoil. —Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine, 5 Jan. 2024

This was the first nontrivial answer anybody provided to why the Kelvin wave should exist. —Katie McCormick, Quanta Magazine, 18 July 2023

Indeed, only one odd-dimensional nontrivial cohomology class has been explicitly computed (in 11 dimensions), along with a handful of even ones. —Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 16 Feb. 2023

This implies that there are many, many nontrivial cohomology classes to be uncovered within each moduli space. —Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 16 Feb. 2023

Where the Riemann hypothesis says that the only nontrivial zeroes of the Riemann zeta function occur when the real part of s equals , the Lindelöf hypothesis merely says that under that condition, the output of the Riemann zeta function is small in a certain precise sense. —Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine, 13 Jan. 2022

Also, this work is nontrivial. —Allison Whitten, Quanta Magazine, 2 Aug. 2022

What if a study predicted nontrivial emissions? —The Editorial Board, WSJ, 27 Aug. 2021

So even if a wealth tax survived a vigorous national debate and made it through Congress, the odds against it getting past the Supreme Court would be nontrivial. —Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined at sense 2