as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense
the belief that soda is made out of acid is just piffle
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to muddle
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of piffle
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
The irony of the lightweight piffle being resurrected 26 years later isn’t lost on the group.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
The whole story now seems like so much piffle, except for the sons who lost their mother and a princess who lost her life.
—John Anderson, WSJ, 7 Oct. 2021
People who are too cowardly to put their names behind their allegations are hiding in the shadows, using the anonymity of dark money laws to try to raise doubts in the minds of voters by spreading inflammatory charges that amount to piffle.
—cleveland, 12 Sep. 2021
It’s a not-quite-living imitation of a movie, a self-parody that lacks even a touch of humor—because, at the slightest sting of wit, its entire membrane of fakery would burst and leave hardly a piffle of vapor behind.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2021
To note that Gloria!, the directing debut of Italian actor-singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario, is vapid, pseudo-feminist, sentimental piffle would be entirely accurate.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
The Ritz, a smart London hotel where Margaret Thatcher spent her last days, is in fine fettle, turning a neat annual profit and valued in the region of £800m—not bad for a property bought for a piffling £75m in 1995.
—The Economist, 31 Oct. 2019
Noun
That may not sound like a virtue, but in a world where horror comes either overloaded with metaphor or reduced to bloody piffle, Cregger valiantly navigates an unnerving middle way.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025
The irony of the lightweight piffle being resurrected 26 years later isn’t lost on the group.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
The whole story now seems like so much piffle, except for the sons who lost their mother and a princess who lost her life.
—John Anderson, WSJ, 7 Oct. 2021
People who are too cowardly to put their names behind their allegations are hiding in the shadows, using the anonymity of dark money laws to try to raise doubts in the minds of voters by spreading inflammatory charges that amount to piffle.
—cleveland, 12 Sep. 2021
It’s a not-quite-living imitation of a movie, a self-parody that lacks even a touch of humor—because, at the slightest sting of wit, its entire membrane of fakery would burst and leave hardly a piffle of vapor behind.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2021
To note that Gloria!, the directing debut of Italian actor-singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario, is vapid, pseudo-feminist, sentimental piffle would be entirely accurate.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
And what The New Yorker saw happening most of all was Charlie Chaplin, who figures prominently in the magazine’s first year, in contexts ranging from pithy to piffling.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
The Ritz, a smart London hotel where Margaret Thatcher spent her last days, is in fine fettle, turning a neat annual profit and valued in the region of £800m—not bad for a property bought for a piffling £75m in 1995.
—The Economist, 31 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piffle
Noun
-
Not only is that nonsense, but Israel took this into account.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
17 June 2026
-
Get outta here with that nonsense.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
15 June 2026
Verb
-
Mixing too many competing scents in the same area also muddles the experience, and strong essential oils like peppermint or cinnamon can quickly overload a space.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Miami Herald,
10 June 2026
-
These variables muddle the value for a 30-year-old linebacker whose contract expires after the season.—
Alec Lewis,
New York Times,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
Every campsite has a bear-resistant food locker, and visitors are being reminded to store food, garbage and other attractants properly.—
Spencer Wilson,
CBS News,
14 June 2026
-
While the Doral incinerator used to burn about half of the county’s daily trash supply, Miami-Dade is now using trucks and trains to send its garbage to landfills across Florida.—
Douglas Hanks
June 11,
Miami Herald,
11 June 2026
Verb
-
The instructions guided us to put in the dryer for 10 minutes after unpacking, and this makes all the difference in fluffing it up!—
Briana Feigon,
Architectural Digest,
17 June 2026
-
Save your dryer lint to help fill a cushion that has gone flat or to fluff up your pet’s bed.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
5 June 2026
Noun
-
So where does the rubbish come from?—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Footwear News,
8 June 2026
-
With no petrol to run dustbin trucks, rubbish is being burnt in the streets.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
The consequences ranged from hobbling Reconstruction to hastening the end of the Ottoman Empire to poisonous deflation, and the blundering response by governments helped shape the modern world.—
Air Mail,
Air Mail,
6 June 2026
-
Mike Trout presumably has witnessed every possible blooper, blunder and boo-boo in 16 seasons with the woeful Angels.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2026
Noun
-
But what pushed the situation from the realm of silliness to sinister was a US operation to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their home in Caracas on January 3, 2026.—
Joshua Hunt,
Vanity Fair,
17 June 2026
-
On one hand, this is silliness; Swift barely even lived here.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
8 June 2026
Verb
-
Just thinking about how much true, false, and plain crazy stuff has been written about you boggles the mind.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
12 June 2026
-
Go Fishing The amount and variety of fish in Lake Superior boggles the mind.—
Robert Annis,
Midwest Living,
7 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Piffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffle. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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