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 The fact that all those involved in discussing this question have heads full of tosh and piffle does not make for productive debates. — Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2020
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
  • What Trump is serving up is precisely the kind of paternalistic nonsense that women have fought against for the past century, now applied to nation states.
    — Rachel Marsden, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
  • The Beast in Me now joins a celebrated cohort of series with this same sneaky nonsense buried in their glowing track records, including Downton Abbey, Big Little Lies, and The White Lotus.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • No one here can escape the Monster signature, which is to make its themes obvious and its takeaways muddled; the whole thing is spectacle without reflection.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • But however janky, the system just about works for the ornery menfolk muddling their way through it, with their many beefs mostly resolved with a bottle of lethally alcoholic local tipple chacha, or a punch to the face, or both.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Exhibiting a pile of hot, steaming garbage might have been more transgressive than showing these sculptures.
    — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • But to anyone who knew the actual facts, not reckless garbage spewed on the internet, the result of the process was never in doubt.
    — Adam Sabes, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • At Villa Park last year, Elanga fluffed the final action, but not on this occasion at St James’ Park.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026
  • After drying, fluff the pillow by breaking up remaining clumps by hand.
    — Colleen Sullivan, Martha Stewart, 22 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • This comes at the expense of no movement in the wrist, but to be fair, having the lightsaber pointed in any other direction would look rubbish.
    — Matt Gardner, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Only construction waste will be accepted at the landfill such as, brush and rubbish, concrete, brick, rock, wood, paper, plastics, cardboard and roofing shingles and tiles.
    — Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2026
Verb
  • In fact, both Gemma and Alice repeatedly blunder through their interactions.
    — Keith Phipps, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Only a blundering idiot could spoil such an alliance and threaten damage to Florida’s economy.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 24 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • This bit of silliness was originally featured in the Win Column, the AJC’s daily sports newsletter.
    — Rahul Deshpande, AJC.com, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Its silliness, therefore, cannot have the emotional impact of the chicken-talk scene in Bocking, or the hot-dogs-as-fingers segment in the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once.
    — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The scope and ingenuity of scrying continually boggle the mind.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Hamaguchi told Deadline that the team painstakingly cemented Vincent and Yuffie into irrevocable mainstays while also giving Zack (not available in my preview) an increasingly important role in the trilogy’s larger time-boggling mystery.
    — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Piffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffle. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

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