trivialize

verb

triv·​i·​al·​ize ˈtri-vē-ə-ˌlīz How to pronounce trivialize (audio)
trivialized; trivializing

transitive verb

: to make trivial : reduce to triviality
trivialization noun

Examples of trivialize in a Sentence

The news story trivialized the problem. He is trivializing the situation.
Recent Examples on the Web Each new accolade, Boudreau and her parents said, further trivializes their suffering. USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2024 Something goes wrong when that happens; our culture gets trivialized. Armond White, National Review, 17 Jan. 2024 That’s an act of rigor, not erasure: Christopher Nolan’s movie has no interest in reducing the atomic bombings of Japan to a trivializing, exploitative spectacle, despite what some would want. 6. Los Angeles Times Staff, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2023 Ultimately, the drive to automate war games created a backlash as scholars at RAND and other war-gaming centers criticized the attempt to trivialize the human decision-making part of war. Jacquelyn Schneider, Foreign Affairs, 26 Dec. 2023 The only problem was that every music video idea seemed to trivialize it. Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Dec. 2023 Only the worst behavior is supposed to trigger the disqualification finding that removes a president’s fate from the voters’ judgment — though our modern, moronic politics has done its best to trivialize impeachment into a partisan censure that, naturally, the target wears as a badge of honor. Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 30 Dec. 2023 Under cross-examination by Khatib, the doctor denied trivializing her complaints of pain. CBS News, 9 Nov. 2023 That’s an act of rigor, not erasure Aug. 11, 2023 Some film critics, including The Times’ Justin Chang, argued that Nolan didn’t want to reduce the atomic bombings of Japan to a trivializing, exploitative spectacle. Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trivialize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1846, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of trivialize was in 1846

Dictionary Entries Near trivialize

Cite this Entry

“Trivialize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trivialize. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!