trivial

adjective triv·i·al \ ˈtri-vē-əl \

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of trivial

1 a : of little worth or importance

a trivial objection

trivial problems

b : relating to or being the mathematically simplest case; specifically : characterized by having all variables equal to zero

a trivial solution to a linear equation

2 : commonplace, ordinary

3 : specific 4

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trivialist

play \-ə-list\ noun

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trivially

play \-ə-lē\ adverb

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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 of trivial from the Web

That said, since most mock drafts continue to project Jackson as a mid-to-late first-round selection, his test scores may seem trivial.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "Tests only tell so much about Lamar Jackson | Tim Sullivan," 4 Apr. 2018
So the healthcare system routinely inflicts gibberish on patients, presumably because treatment providers and insurers don't want anyone understanding how much money is changing hands for even the most trivial of purposes.

— david lazarus, latimes.com, "State senator says it may be time for law requiring easily understood medical bills," 3 Apr. 2018
Some of them are trivial: a surprising turn-round in a football game, the number of babies to be born on a particular day in a Texas hospital, a hold-up at a given time at a particular store.

— tom shippey, WSJ, "Science Fiction: Better Not to Know," 30 Mar. 2018
Some mocked the conservative complaints on Tuesday as being relatively trivial.

— eli rosenberg, Anchorage Daily News, "Twitter suspends thousands of suspected bots, angering Trump boosters," 22 Feb. 2018
While the circumstances regarding the news of Tillerson’s firing might, at first glance, have seemed trivial, that didn’t appear to be the case for the White House.

— james pindell, BostonGlobe.com, "Tillerson is out, but this question remains," 13 Mar. 2018
View 23 Photos And that’s the thing about the rear-drive CTS-V—unlike its all-wheel-drive competitors, putting all that power down is not a trivial exercise.

— james lipman, Car and Driver, "2018 Cadillac CTS-V," 13 Mar. 2018
Jaywalking is a trivial crime, one that virtually every person has committed multiple times in their life.

— matt ford, The New Republic, "The Case Against Jaywalking Laws," 12 Mar. 2018
But the cost of embassies and diplomats is trivial compared to the value of international trade.

— matthew connelly, Washington Post, "Underfunding the State Department could hurt U.S. exports — and U.S. companies," 14 Feb. 2018

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.

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.