as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
from his perspective as a billionaire, what the governor got paid was a piffling amount
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piffling
Adjective
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There's a low nominal cost, but the fact is there was a really significant cost because of the bureaucracy and time and uncertainty, with a lot of companies tied up with it.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Oct. 2025 -
But analysts believe that figure was nominal if anything.—
Rebecca Rubin,
Variety,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Read All About It A Missouri woman was sentenced to more than four years in prison in a brazen and blundering attempt to steal Graceland from the family of Elvis Presley.—
Christian Orozco,
NBC news,
24 Sep. 2025
-
Apple so far has only been able to introduce a few basic AI features on the iPhone while failing to deliver on last year’s promise to deliver a more conversational and versatile version of its often-blundering virtual assistant Siri.—
Michael Liedtke,
Fortune,
20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
They are made of cotton with a slight stretch, but still have structure in the front.—
Chaunie Brusie,
Parents,
7 Oct. 2025
-
Herro was an All-Star last year while Ball wasn’t; Herro’s injury gives the Hornets a slight edge in these rankings.—
Law Murray,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But also muddling standard operating procedures is the fact that, according to the insider, ABC doesn’t have a dedicated late-night executive.—
Shirley Halperin,
Rolling Stone,
19 Sep. 2025
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With his far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, sitting in the front row, Netanyahu took the stage, looking a little peeved, and berated the event’s organizers for muddling his slide show.—
Ruth Margalit,
New Yorker,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
But for his wife, the damage is deeper than a petty argument over a pet.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
5 Oct. 2025
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Throughout the summer, Joanne leads her lovable, chaotic crew through a season of strikeouts, petty rivalries, conservative-politician sponsors, and sexy carwash fundraisers gone wrong.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Trying to move in earlier to accommodate a pittance of an audience is mind boggling stupidity.—
Pol Ballus,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
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In a world where licenses and software locks forbid folks from simply plugging in a replacement component, the thought of a major company encouraging its customers to break out a soldering iron is mind boggling.—
Stephen Cass,
IEEE Spectrum,
27 June 2025
Adjective
-
Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.—
Star Tribune,
Star Tribune,
3 Dec. 2020
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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
Verb
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When Souleymane rehearses his account, in an early scene, Barry admonishes him for blandly reciting (and often bungling) the false facts he’s been given.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
6 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Piffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffling. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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