piffle 1 of 2

Definition of pifflenext

piffle

2 of 2

verb

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 piffle
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
  • The only moments where Philly’s Shadstackzz isn’t rapping at full force are when the beats switch from one to the next or one of his boys—named nonsense like firbucketss and Broadday—tag in.
    Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 11 Dec. 2025
  • When Kim finally got the mic back and tried to continue, Psalm somehow found another mic and began saying nonsense into it.
    Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 11 Dec. 2025
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
  • This muddled the entire process.
    Tony East, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
Noun
  • In response, the city provided free vaccination to dogs at the encampment, removed 40 tons of garbage and provided outreach to residents to mitigate the risk of leptospirosis.
    Tim Fang, CBS News, 11 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
  • 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
  • But the national team fluffed its lines, losing to Uruguay in the final match when a draw would have secured the title.
    Jack Lang, New York Times, 2 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
  • On one hand, this is silliness; Swift barely even lived here.
    Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 8 June 2026
  • That led to a whole lot of silliness.
    Phil Wahba, Fortune, 2 June 2026
Verb
  • Go Fishing The amount and variety of fish in Lake Superior boggles the mind.
    Robert Annis, Midwest Living, 7 June 2026
  • The number of heating and cooling systems and heat exchangers and radiators that is throughout that powertrain boggles the mind.
    Joel Feder, The Drive, 3 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Piffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffle. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.

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