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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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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
-
Even Hauser can’t rescue this culturally insensitive, stereotype-perpetuating nonsense.
-
Some beer companies even make canned versions of the drink, but forget that nonsense — there is nothing better than a fresh, handmade michelada.
Verb
-
Because the devices are relatively new, hospitals do not always categorize the exact type of vehicle involved in a crash, and details such as speed are self-reported, meaning the data can be muddled.
-
So the relationship of high rates for long-term CDs and low rates for short-term CDs remains muddled.
Noun
-
Decomposing food can release hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas synonymous with landfills and garbage.
-
Epidemics, worsened by the unsanitary conditions caused by the mountains of garbage the government has stopped collecting, combine with the shortage of medicines and the dire state of medical facilities.
Verb
-
Add vinaigrette to herb mixture, and toss gently; divide evenly among toasts, fluffing up when arranging.
-
Once they’re fluffed up and molded into position, no one will think otherwise.
Noun
-
So where does the rubbish come from?
-
With no petrol to run dustbin trucks, rubbish is being burnt in the streets.
Verb
-
When the toys use messaging apps to control their owners in ways that go terrifyingly unnoticed, humankind itself seems to be blundering about with its brain unplugged.
-
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.
Noun
-
The silliness of that aspect of the story is baked into this interpretation, with several very meta acknowledgments.
-
No, no jersey burnings or any of that silliness in the wake of Antetokounmpo working his way out of Milwaukee.
Verb
-
Just thinking about how much true, false, and plain crazy stuff has been written about you boggles the mind.
-
Go Fishing The amount and variety of fish in Lake Superior boggles the mind.
Cite this Entry
“Piffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffle. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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