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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In addition to the music, train rides will be offered around the park for a nominal fee courtesy of the Poway-Midland Railroad.—
Elizabeth Marie Himchak,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Nov. 2025 -
Kim Yong Nam was not related to Kim Jong Un, but his loyalty to the ruling family enabled him to serve as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly—the country's nominal head of state—from 1998 until April 2019.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 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
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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
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The score indicates a slight improvement from the 2023-24 school year, when 26% of students achieved Level 3 or 4.—
Dmitry Martirosov,
Arkansas Online,
12 Nov. 2025
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Katy Perry's manager appeared to take a slight dig at Wendy's, months after the fast food chain's comments about his pop star client.—
Taylor Ardrey,
USA Today,
11 Nov. 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
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At a time when the Mavericks need as much good will, or PR, as possible, filing a lawsuit against the Dallas Stars is petty, small and mean.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
11 Nov. 2025
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Her motives apparently range from a desire to save the country to unabashed, petty vindictiveness; the two often overlap.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The tragedy side of things is addressed rather offhandedly — occasionally the movie will remember the boggling grief and betrayal at its center, only to shrug it off again just as quickly.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
22 Oct. 2025
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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
Adjective
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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 19 Nov. 2025.
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