trifling

/ˈtɹaɪfliŋ/

trifling adjective: trivial, or of little importance. Also the present participle and gerund of trifle.

Adjective

trifling (comparative more trifling, superlative most trifling)

Trivial, or of little importance.
- […] It is not ſo decorous in reſpect of God, that he ſhould αὐτουργεῖν ἅπαντα [autourgeîn hápanta], ſet his ovvn hand as it vvere to every vvork, and immediately do all the meaneſt and triflingſt things himſelf drudgingly, vvithout making uſe of any inferior or ſubordinate Miniſters.1691, John Ray, “The Cartesian Hypothesis Considered and Censured”, in The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC, page 39
- However, upon a ſtrict Review, I blotted out ſeveral Paſſages of leſs Moment which were in my firſt Copy, for fear of being cenſured as tedious and trifling, whereof Travellers are often, perhaps not without Juſtice, accuſed.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the...
Synonyms:

trivial, inconsequential, petty, base, contemptible, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, foolish, for the birds, futile, frivolous
Frivolous.
- For, really, as it is a trifling Age, ſo nothing but Trifles are valued in it. Men read none but trifling Authors, purſue none but trifling Amusements, and contend for none but trifling Opinions. A trifling Fellow is prefer'd, a trifling Woman admir'd.1735, Robert Dodsley, The Toy-Shop. A Dramatick Satire., page 7
(now chiefly African-American Vernacular) Good-for-nothing; shady or lazy; scrub.
- You trifling good for nothin’ type of brother.
- My hand was aching to slap that silly heifer. I told her to take her trifling ass down to Burger King and get herself a job flipping burgers […]2001, Glenda Howard, Cita's World

Noun

trifling (countable and uncountable, plural triflings)

The act of one who trifles; frivolous behaviour.
- He writes on the principle, of course, that in one's dotage we are privileged to return to the triflings of our infancy, and that Downing Street cannot be better employed in these days than as a chapel of ease to Eton.1845, George Croly, Samuel Warren, Marston, or the Memoirs of a Statesman

Also used as

trifling is also the present participle and gerund of trifle.

trifling meaning in Tamil, Sanskrit and Persian

trifling in Persian

trivial: پیش پا افتاده piš-e pâ-oftâde

Examples of trifling in a sentence

Trifling, apparently, was the circumstance that led to the restoration of Charles.1840, Lewis Rose, “Fear that we are on the way to troubles”, in An Humble Attempt to Put an End to the Present Divisions in the Church of...
[…] it doesn't take him long to make any of them, and he sells them for some trifling sum of money.2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 234a:
"To hell with that trifling nigga!", and "You deserved every bad thing you got!"2006 December 4, Douglas J. Knox, Deceitful Desires, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 102:
Now I needed some support to keep this trifling hoe focused on getting bond money to get me out of jail.2020 January 31, Donald Boone, Beast Master, Newman Springs Publishing, →ISBN:

All 14 example sentences with trifling

Synonyms of trifling

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of trifling

Forms of trifling

Adjective
comparative	more trifling
superlative	most trifling
Noun
plural	triflings

Origin of trifling

By surface analysis, trifle + -ing.

Words formed from trifling

Phrases with trifling

trifling with

Questions about trifling

What does trifling mean?: Trifling means trivial, or of little importance.
What is trifling in Tamil?: Trifling in Tamil is உப்பு பெறாத (uppu peṟāta). See Trifling meaning in Tamil.
How do you use trifling in a sentence?: Trifling, apparently, was the circumstance that led to the restoration of Charles.
What part of speech is trifling?: Trifling can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce trifling?: Trifling is pronounced /ˈtɹaɪfliŋ/.

Words near trifling in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: trifling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-trifling.wav.

Cite this entry: “trifling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/trifling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.