What does insignificant mean?
Insignificance means that something is not important enough to affect a decision, result, or judgment. It describes differences, amounts, details, or events that are too small, slight, or inconsequential to matter. The word is common in formal writing, including scientific and statistical discussions, where “statistically insignificant” means that an observed result may have arisen by chance and does not provide reliable evidence of a real effect. In everyday conversation, insignificant can refer to a detail that someone has decided is irrelevant. The adjective is closely related to significance, which means importance or meaning, and significance, which refers to a result that is meaningful or statistically reliable. Using insignificant clearly communicates that a factor has little practical importance, though the precise degree of smallness may depend on context.
adjectiveNot important or significant; too small or lacking in importance to be noticed or valued.
- Not important, consequential, or worthy of attention.
- Too small or slight to have a significant effect or value.
- Expressing or relating to a result that is not statistically reliable because it could plausibly occur by chance.
"The difference between the two versions was insignificant, so they chose the less expensive option."
"The minor error had an insignificant effect on the final result."
"The researchers noted that the observed increase was statistically insignificant."
In mathematics and science, a result can be statistically insignificant without being false: it may simply be too small to support a confident conclusion.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does insignificant come from?
The word comes from the Latin insignis, meaning “not distinguished” or “not notable,” formed from in-, a prefix expressing negation, and signum, meaning “sign” or “mark.” English developed the related noun significance from the Latin significantia, meaning “importance” or “notability,” and the adjective significant from the same Latin root. The modern sense of “not important” and the scientific sense of “not statistically significant” are both developments of this older idea of lacking distinction or importance.
Related word forms
How insignificant is actually used
In formal contexts, especially scientific and statistical writing, it often means negligible or not statistically significant. In everyday use, it may describe anything considered too minor to matter.
Easily confused with insignificant
This is the headword itself; the distinction is that it means unimportant or negligible.