as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
raised one final, piddling objection to the plan
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Recent Examples of piddling
Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020
Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling.
—Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
What’s particularly baffling is that Syria now produces a piddling amount of oil—about as much as Utah.
—Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2019
That will make the current economic uncertainty look piddling.
—Daniel W. Drezner, Twin Cities, 15 Aug. 2019
In the battle for mind share, in the Trumpian quest to be part of every conversation, the Pixel far outweighs its piddling sales.
—Vlad Savov, The Verge, 16 Oct. 2018
Of those, only four rather piddling victories went the liberals’ way.
—The Economist, 30 June 2018
Learning about other runners' struggles and triumphs helps put my piddling run into a bigger narrative, often allowing me to see myself differently within another story.
—Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 21 June 2018
How to: Improve the Wi-Fi reception in your home
The most-improved was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which went from a piddling 2.68 Mbps download speed in 2017 to 59.62 Mbps this year.
—Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, 12 June 2018
Adjective
Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.
—Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020
Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling.
—Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
What’s particularly baffling is that Syria now produces a piddling amount of oil—about as much as Utah.
—Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2019
That will make the current economic uncertainty look piddling.
—Daniel W. Drezner, Twin Cities, 15 Aug. 2019
In the battle for mind share, in the Trumpian quest to be part of every conversation, the Pixel far outweighs its piddling sales.
—Vlad Savov, The Verge, 16 Oct. 2018
Of those, only four rather piddling victories went the liberals’ way.
—The Economist, 30 June 2018
Learning about other runners' struggles and triumphs helps put my piddling run into a bigger narrative, often allowing me to see myself differently within another story.
—Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 21 June 2018
How to: Improve the Wi-Fi reception in your home
The most-improved was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which went from a piddling 2.68 Mbps download speed in 2017 to 59.62 Mbps this year.
—Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, 12 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piddling
Adjective
-
In addition to the music, train rides will be offered around the park for a nominal fee courtesy of the Poway-Midland Railroad.—
Elizabeth Marie Himchak,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Kim Yong Nam was not related to Kim Jong Un, but his loyalty to the ruling family enabled him to serve as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly—the country's nominal head of state—from 1998 until April 2019.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The aging Airy had devoted his observatory to stellar measurements that now produced trifling improvements to navigation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Oct. 2025
-
But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about.—
Ashlee Conour,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The score indicates a slight improvement from the 2023-24 school year, when 26% of students achieved Level 3 or 4.—
Dmitry Martirosov,
Arkansas Online,
12 Nov. 2025
-
Katy Perry's manager appeared to take a slight dig at Wendy's, months after the fast food chain's comments about his pop star client.—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
The last two seasons have proven that the team starts off slow, which ends up messing their chances of making the playoffs.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
At the previous World Cup in 2022, hosted by tiny Qatar, all of England’s games were in Doha or just outside that city.—
Jack Pitt-Brooke,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Nanotubes are ultra-small cylindrical structures, so tiny that thousands could fit across the width of a human hair.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
At a time when the Mavericks need as much good will, or PR, as possible, filing a lawsuit against the Dallas Stars is petty, small and mean.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Her motives apparently range from a desire to save the country to unabashed, petty vindictiveness; the two often overlap.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
This, of course, is trivial compared to the risk the Colorado River Basin’s shrinking snowpack poses to nearly every Southwest settlement, livelihood and life form that relies on its steady trickle downstream.—
Shaun McKinnon,
AZCentral.com,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Misreading facial expressions isn’t trivial.—
Matt Fuchs,
Time,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Anyone who predicted this Titans team to win more than four or five games was fooling themselves, and even those predictions are coming off over-optimistic.—
Nick Suss,
Nashville Tennessean,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Either Michigan is fooling everyone in college football, or the Wolverines are fooling themselves.—
Austin Meek,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Piddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piddling. Accessed 15 Nov. 2025.
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