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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piffling
Adjective
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If a more involved DIY installation sounds prohibitive, Starlink does contract with installers nationwide for a nominal fee.—
Brian Westover,
PC Magazine,
30 Apr. 2026 -
And, in the end, none of the aforementioned might be available except for Ja Morant, who might be only a nominal upgrade, if that.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Verizon never would have gotten the chance to buy Yahoo’s online operations if not for the company’s perpetual blundering under seven different CEOs in 16 years.—
Michael Liedtke,
Fortune,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Verizon never would have gotten the chance to buy Yahoo’s online operations if not for the company’s perpetual blundering under seven different CEOs in 16 years.—
Michael Liedtke,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Saturday will be mostly dry but there is a slight chance for showers.—
Rachael Jay,
CBS News,
2 May 2026
-
In 2022, his rookie season ended early because of a slight stress fracture in his right ankle.—
Josh Robbins,
New York Times,
1 May 2026
Verb
-
Ken Holland, general manager, B Holland arrived on the scene of a muddling franchise that had lost four straight first-round series to the same opponent.—
Andrew Knoll,
Daily News,
7 Feb. 2026
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The new estimate was based on accounting for some of those muddling data points.—
Andrew Joseph,
STAT,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Middle school is, famously, a time of petty cruelty and small-scale social Darwinism.—
Anna Wiener,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
-
Detractors consider this format both mind-numbing and salacious, engineered for immediate gratification and often focused on cast members’ petty personal grievances and rock-bottom moments.—
Daisy Jones,
Vogue,
2 May 2026
Verb
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Advertisement All eyes will be on Ilia Malinin, for the stunning array of quadruple jumps that the Virginia native pulls off with a mind boggling ease.—
Alice Park,
Time,
12 Jan. 2026
-
Jerry's approach is so mind boggling.—
Melissa Ruggieri,
USA Today,
30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.—
Star Tribune,
Star Tribune,
3 Dec. 2020
-
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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San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who polled at 5% in the CBS survey, accused Becerra of bungling the federal government’s response to COVID-19, mpox and the influx in child migrants under former President Joe Biden.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
29 Apr. 2026
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And Kash Patel's FBI seems to be bungling the investigation at every step.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
13 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Piffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffling. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
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