Definition of TRIVIAL

Did You Know?

Trivial comes from a Latin word meaning "crossroads"—that is, where three roads come together. Since a crossroads is a very public place where all kinds of people might show up, trivialis came to mean "commonplace" or "vulgar". Today the English word has changed slightly in meaning and instead usually describes something barely worth mentioning. Mathematicians use the word to refer to some part of a proof or definition that's extremely simple and needn't be explained, but the rest of us tend to use it just to mean "unimportant". "Small talk" at a party, for example, is usually trivial conversation, though a trivial excuse for not going on a date ("I have to wash my hair") might hide an emotion that isn't so trivial ("I can't stand the sight of you"). To trivialize something is to treat it as if it didn't matter, as if it were just another triviality.

Examples of trivial in a Sentence

His later memory, untutored and unsupported by anything so trivial as evidence or documents, now flourished and ran wild. — Muriel Spark, Curriculum Vitae, (1992) 1993 I had never heard anyone speak of their parents in this way; I never even knew you could make them seem trivial … — Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy, 1990 But the last tribute was to be a struggle among states for possession of the trivial remains of a man who in life had known as much revilement as honor. — Robert Penn Warren, Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back, 1980 statistics and other trivial matters a trivial sum of money Compared to her problems, our problems seem trivial.

Recent Examples on the Web

Most fans who wrote told us about attending one game, or remembered certain moments, trivial or otherwise. — Marc Bona, cleveland.com, "All-Star Game memories: Tribe fan recalls 3 games in Cleveland," 4 July 2019 The larger the sensor, the more powerful the motors required to move it, and at this full-frame size, IBIS is a non-trivial matter. — Vlad Savov, The Verge, "Panasonic Lumix S1 review: the mirrorless heavyweight," 18 June 2019 These seemingly trivial, though potentially consequential, issues arose in an action brought by Vaiula Savea against his employer YRC Inc. — Dan Eaton, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Employer may identify itself by recorded fictitious business name on paystub," 10 June 2019 Those of us who’ve been through a political philosophy class or three know that the concept of equal opportunity is devilishly hard to pin down in a way that doesn’t become either trivial or grandiose. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "Centrist Democrats are out of ideas," 30 July 2018 Clinical videos of kids and adults tearfully struggling with tasks that used to be trivial are heartbreaking. — Vivienne Ming, Quartz, "Why I’m turning my son into a cyborg," 15 July 2019 Immediately after Katrina, schools could recommend students for expulsion for a range of causes, including vague reasons like disrespect or trivial ones like a uniform violation, Crayton said. — nola.com, "New Orleans schools seek better discipline process as expulsions drop but suspensions rise," 27 June 2019 The result could be as trivial as a snapped pencil or as catastrophic as a bridge collapse. — Bridget Alex, Discover Magazine, "What Science Says About Why You're Stressed and How to Cope," 21 June 2019 By comparison, our troubles with Putin’s Russia are trivial. — Adam Tooze, The New York Review of Books, "Democracy and Its Discontents," 6 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trivial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.