1
as in minor
lacking importance
deciding what you want to do for a living is no trifling matter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slight
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
trifling differences between the theatrical and DVD versions of the movie
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in flirting
to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun
do not trifle with me unless you mean to ask me to marry you
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in playing
to spend time in aimless activity
spent a lazy afternoon trifling on the front porch
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of trifling
Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025
With that much water needed for even the most trifling tasks, the natural question becomes: How does that water reach those data centers, let alone the world’s farms and factories?
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2010
And yet the movie’s insularity feels trifling and empty.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024
The cost to find these answers, even in the near term, is relatively trifling.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2023
Aside from bacteria, the smallest genome belongs to the intestinal parasite Encephalitozoon intestinalis, with a trifling 2.3 billion base pairs.
—Kirsten Weir, Discover Magazine, 12 June 2011
Growing immunity against the coronavirus, repeatedly reinforced by vaccines and infections, could eventually tame COVID into a sickness as trifling as the common cold or, at worst, one on par with the seasonal flu.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2022
Specific as Ozon’s approach here may be (nothing feels accidental or arbitrary), his lovingly made curio, which often borrows verbatim from its predecessor, comes off a bit tired and trifling.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2022
Bonus: these tweets are usually about the most trifling and hilarious pop culture moments, so ... win win!
—Danielle Young, The Root, 2 June 2017
Adjective
Frankly, the more trifling the crime, the better this franchise’s comedy aspirations would work.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2025
With that much water needed for even the most trifling tasks, the natural question becomes: How does that water reach those data centers, let alone the world’s farms and factories?
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2010
And yet the movie’s insularity feels trifling and empty.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024
The cost to find these answers, even in the near term, is relatively trifling.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2023
Aside from bacteria, the smallest genome belongs to the intestinal parasite Encephalitozoon intestinalis, with a trifling 2.3 billion base pairs.
—Kirsten Weir, Discover Magazine, 12 June 2011
Growing immunity against the coronavirus, repeatedly reinforced by vaccines and infections, could eventually tame COVID into a sickness as trifling as the common cold or, at worst, one on par with the seasonal flu.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2022
Specific as Ozon’s approach here may be (nothing feels accidental or arbitrary), his lovingly made curio, which often borrows verbatim from its predecessor, comes off a bit tired and trifling.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2022
Bonus: these tweets are usually about the most trifling and hilarious pop culture moments, so ... win win!
—Danielle Young, The Root, 2 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trifling
Adjective
-
In some cases, lawyers said students had their legal statuses altered for minor traffic violations, such as unpaid parking tickets.—
Zachary Schermele,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
-
Nina and Jim are forced to work overtime to re-center key story components that get lost amid more minor twists and turns.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
15 May 2025
Adjective
-
However, at some point while walking the red carpet on Saturday, May 17, the two got mixed up in slight blunder when the Twilight star, 39, ended up standing on top of his costar's elegant Dior gown that, according to Vogue, took 250 hours to create.—
Michelle Lee,
People.com,
19 May 2025
-
Meanwhile, a DeepMind researcher discussed adversarial machine learning, a phenomenon where slight manipulations to input data can drastically alter an AI’s output.—
Korok Ray,
Forbes.com,
19 May 2025
Verb
-
Their stars are blatantly flirting with their audiences, tiptoeing the line between cringe and attractive.—
Leah Asmelash,
CNN,
9 Mar. 2025
-
Meanwhile, the small-cap Russell 2000 is flirting with bear market territory and is down almost 20% from its recent high.—
Adam Sarhan,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Further factions emerge from there, as people start playing the game within the Squid Game, forming pockets of friendships and alliances, real and fake.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
26 Dec. 2024
-
The World Junior tournament is always good for some surprises; a couple of unexpected players emerging as top scorers or playing well in big moments, or a traditional top nation getting upset in the medal round.—
Corey Pronman,
The Athletic,
26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Instead, Atkinson took up golf for the first time and renewed his connection to scientific research, not the least of which was how a small white ball repeatedly avoids a hole in the ground.—
Barbara Bry,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 May 2025
-
The Court of International Trade previously rejected the small businesses' request to temporarily pause the tariffs while their lawsuit went forward, but then quickly scheduled Tuesday’s court hearing to decide whether to rule against the tariffs or impose a longer-term pause.—
Dietrich Knauth,
USA Today,
14 May 2025
Adjective
-
The main question of contemporary cinema isn’t (pace the nominal avant-garde) whether to tell a story but what story to tell, how to tell it, and, for that matter, what a story is.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
20 May 2025
-
Here’s why: Although technical specifications are still being worked out, the new standard could deliver nominal peak data rates of more than 40Gbps.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
20 May 2025
Adjective
-
On the comparable activities, there was little in the way of either selling horses or otherwise disposing of them.—
Peter J Reilly,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2025
-
And while most Americans have heard about the stock market fluctuations, 20 percent have heard little about them or nothing at all.—
Ruth Igielnik,
New York Times,
18 May 2025
Adjective
-
As a result, defendants in Colorado’s municipal courts can face much longer sentences than those in state court for the same petty offenses, The Denver Post previously found.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
16 May 2025
-
Each encounter brings four options for how to beat that opponent, a prime opportunity to make petty jokes.—
Jayna Bardahl,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trifling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trifling. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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