FRIVOLOUS Synonyms: 129 Similar and Opposite Words

frivolous

adjective

ˈfri-və-ləs

Definition of frivolous

as in minor

lacking importance judges are getting sick of people bringing frivolous lawsuits

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in silly

lacking in seriousness or maturity when asked by the waiter if we wanted anything else that evening, we made a frivolous request for free drinks

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of frivolous The board called the lawsuit frivolous and said Heap was wasting taxpayer money. — Josh Kelety, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026 By contrast, to invoke Rule 11 the asserted cause of action has to be frivolous, meaning that there is literally no credible evidence and/or no legal authority to assert the cause of action. — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026 The decision followed the Columbia Association's ethics panel concluding that Greenberg, Emery, and Avery filed a frivolous ethics complaint. — Dennis Valera, CBS News, 1 July 2026 Her attorneys argued that the fee award would help to deter frivolous and retaliatory suits against accusers in the future. — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 30 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for frivolous

Recent Examples of Synonyms for frivolous

Adjective

That individual, who is a club employee, suffered a minor head injury and refused medical attention at the scene, fire officials said.

— Adi Guajardo, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
Counter said the Bruin’s fire-alarm system is currently monitored, its emergency generator will be tested in the coming weeks, and several minor plumbing issues are being addressed.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of minor

Adjective

The Astros’ rotation is in such a state that ruling anyone out as a candidate to start games seems silly, but their actions indicate Imai is something of a last resort.

— Chandler Rome, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
So, even though Jay spent the song drawing a line between his own sophistication and the rest of the rap world’s childish behavior, 13 years later, kids are turning his luxury flex into a silly dance.

— Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of silly

Adjective

The merch was originally made for OpenAI employees to purchase on an internal site, but the team decided to make a small capsule collection available to the public.

— T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Rival online retailers Ozon and Yandex Market use smaller depots spread over a wider network.

— ABC News, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of small

Adjective

Mason was funny, goofy and crazy in all the right ways; he will be remembered for singing and dancing around the house with a wide smile on his face and a skip in his step.

— Matt Schooley, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
If the movie is more goofy than profound, that may be the point.

— Faith Hill, The Atlantic, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of goofy

Adjective

Those sea views will keep you company during your workout on the little gym platform overlooking the beach.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Aug. 2026
Increased regular season importance Arguably the biggest criticism of the current 18-team format is that there was too little reward for teams who demonstrated regular season excellence.

— Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of little

Adjective

The receiving corps is still a question mark, and depending solely on De’Von Achane seems futile.

— Gladys Louise Tyler, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Named Wilbur by the hive mind of social media, the animal blew up online after resident Jamaal Harrison posted a video to TikTok on Saturday showing his futile attempts to catch it on an e-bike.

— Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of futile

Adjective

And once Anthropic tells the world how to identify these watermarks, building a system to remove them would be trivial.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026
Duration is a decent hedge against a labor market recession and a poor hedge against a stagflationary drift, and right now the odds of the second scenario are not trivial.

— Jason Kirsch, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of trivial

Browse Nearby Words

frivolity

frivolous

frivolousness

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Style

“Frivolous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frivolous. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of frivolous

adjective

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