What does trifling mean?
Trifling means so minor, unimportant, or lacking in significance that it can safely be ignored or treated without concern. The word is especially useful when the speaker wants not merely to describe something as small, but to dismiss it as unworthy of serious attention. “A trifling detail” or “a trifling sum” usually implies that the matter has little practical importance, even when its monetary cost or physical size is minimal. Trifling can also describe careless or frivolous conduct, as in “trifling with safety,” although this older sense is less common today. The word appears in formal, literary, and occasionally sharply critical contexts in both British and American English. Its dismissive tone may make it unsuitable for neutral description, and “minor” is often preferable when no judgment is intended. Despite its unfriendly implications, trifling is a precise and memorable word for something considered too slight to affect a decision or concern.
Of little importance, value, or significance; so minor as to be disregarded.
"The damage was confined to a trifling scratch on the vehicle."
Often dismissive, and generally more formal than everyday alternatives such as “minor” or “small.”
To trifle; waste time or behave carelessly.
"They were trifling over the wording instead of addressing the problem."
This is the present participle of “trifle” and is now used mainly in literary or archaic-looking constructions such as “trifling with” a serious matter.
Trifling is a put-down with pedigree: it grew from “trifle,” a word for something small enough to dismiss.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trifling come from?
Trifling developed from trifle, whose older English uses included both an insignificant matter and the act of wasting time. The adjective is attested from the early seventeenth century, with senses now expressed as “insignificant” and “careless or frivolous.” Its development connected the idea of something physically small with the idea of a matter too slight to deserve serious attention.
How trifling is actually used
The word is formal or literary but fully understood in British and American English. It often carries a dismissive or faintly superior tone: calling something trifling asserts that it is not worth serious attention. Its older verb use survives chiefly in the expression “trifling with” something.
Easily confused with trifling
Both mean unimportant, but “trivial” emphasizes a lack of significance, whereas “trifling” often adds the implication that something is too small or inconsequential to merit attention.