trifle

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: tri=fle

CIDE DICTIONARY

trifle, n. [OE. trifle, trufle, OF. trufle mockery, raillery, trifle, probably the same word as F. truffe truffle, the word being applied to any small or worthless object. See Truffle.].

•  A thing of very little value or importance; a paltry, or trivial, affair.  [1913 Webster]

  "With such poor trifles playing."  [1913 Webster]

  "Trifles light as air
  Are to the jealous confirmation strong
  As proofs of holy writ."  [1913 Webster]

  "Small sands the mountain, moments make year,
  And frifles life."  [1913 Webster]
•  A dish composed of sweetmeats, fruits, cake, wine, etc., with syllabub poured over it.  [1913 Webster]

trifle, v. i. [OE. trifelen, truflen. See Trifle, n.].

 To act or talk without seriousness, gravity, weight, or dignity; to act or talk with levity; to indulge in light or trivial amusements.  [1913 Webster]
"They trifle, and they beat the air about nothing which toucheth us."  [1913 Webster]

To trifle with, to play the fool with; to treat without respect or seriousness; to mock; as, to trifle with one's feelings, or with sacred things.

trifle, v. t. 

•  To make of no importance; to treat as a trifle.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  To spend in vanity; to fritter away; to waste; as, to trifle away money.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

trifle, n. & v.
--n.
1 a thing of slight value or importance.
2 a a small amount esp. of money (was sold for a trifle). b (prec. by a) somewhat (seems a trifle annoyed).
3 Brit. a confection of sponge cake with custard, jelly, fruit, cream, etc.
--v.
1 intr. talk or act frivolously.
2 intr. (foll. by with) a treat or deal with frivolously or derisively; flirt heartlessly with. b refuse to take seriously.
3 tr. (foll. by away) waste (time, energies, money, etc.) frivolously.

Derivative

trifler n.

Etymology

ME f. OF truf(f)le by-form of trufe deceit, of unkn. orig.

THESAURUS

trifle

Charlotte, Danish pastry, French pastry, a continental, a curse, a damn, a darn, a hoot, abandon, bagatelle, baklava, bauble, be foolish, be stupid, bean, beguile the time, bibelot, bill and coo, bit, blintz, brass farthing, bric-a-brac, burn daylight, button, carrot pudding, cent, chaff, chicken feed, chickenshit, chocolate eclair, chocolate mousse, cipher, clown, clown around, consume time, copulate, coquet, cream puff, curio, custard, cut, dab, dabble, dally, dally away, dandle, dash, details, diddle, diddle away, doodle, dowdy, dribble away, drivel away, drop, dud, duff, dummy, eclair, farce, farthing, feather, fiddle, fiddle with, fiddle-faddle, fidget, fidget with, fig, finger with, flan, fleabite, flirt, flirt with, folderol, fool, fool around, fool away, fool with, footle, fribble, frippery, fritter away, fritter away time, frivol, froth, gaud, get funny, gewgaw, gimcrack, gimcrackery, go haywire, goldbrick, goof off, hair, halfpenny, hardly anything, hill of beans, hollow man, horse around, idle, idle away, invite ridicule, iota, jackstraw, jerk off, jest, joke, jot, jump, junket, kickshaw, kid around, kill time, knickknack, knickknackery, lay figure, lead on, leave, leave loose ends, leave undone, let alone, let be, let dangle, let go, little, loiter, lollygag, lose time, make love, make out, malinger, man of straw, mash, mere nothing, mess around, minikin, minutiae, miss, mite, mockery, molehill, monkey, monkey around, mousse, muck, mucker, muddle away, nebbish, neck, next to nothing, nobody, nonentity, nothing, novelty, nullity, omit, pandowdy, pass over, pass the time, pass up, pastry, pasty, patisserie, patty, patty-shell, peanuts, peppercorn, pet, philander, picayune, piddle, pie, pin, pinch, pinch of snuff, pinprick, piss away, play, play around, play the buffoon, play the fool, play with, plaything, plum pudding, potter, potter away, pretermit, procrastinate, pudding, puff, puppet, pushover, putter, quiche, rap, red cent, rennet, rosette, row of pins, rubbish, rush, scintilla, shade, shirk, shit, skip, slack, smack, small beer, small change, smatter, smidgen, smidgin, smooch, snap, sneeshing, sou, soupcon, spice, spoon, steamed pudding, straw, string along, strudel, suggestion, suspicion, sweet-talk, syllabub, tad, tapioca pudding, tart, thing of naught, timbale, tinker, tipsy cake, tittle, tomfool, touch, toy, toy with, trace, trash, trifle away, trifle with, trifles, trinket, trivia, triviality, trumpery, tuppence, turnover, twiddle, two cents, twopence, vanilla pudding, vol-au-vent, wanton, waste time, whatnot, whiff, while away, whim-wham, whisper sweet nothings, whit, zero

ROGET THESAURUS

trifle

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Neglect

VB be negligent, take no care of &c (take care of), neglect, let slip, let go, lay aside, set aside, cst aside, put aside, keep out of sight, put out of sight, lose sight of, overlook, disregard, pass over, pas by, let pass, blink, wink at, connive at, gloss over, take no note of, take no thought of, take no account of, take no notice of, pay no regard to, laisser aller, scamp, trifle, fribble, do by halves, cut, slight, play with, trifle with, slur, skim, skim the surface, effleurer, take a cursory view of, slur over, skip over, jump over, slip over, pretermit, miss, skip, jump, omit, give the go-by to, push aside, pigeonhole, shelve, sink, table, ignore, shut one's eyes to, refuse to hear, turn a deaf ear to, leave out of one's calculation, not attend to, not mind, not trouble oneself about, not trouble one's head about, not trouble oneself with, forget, be caught napping, leave a loose thread, let the grass grow under one's feet, render neglectful, put off one's guard, throw off one's guard, distract, divert.

Folly

VB to be an imbecile, have no brains, have no sense, trifle, drivel, radoter, dote, ramble, play the fool, play the monkey, monkey around, fool around, take leave of one's senses (insanity), not see an inch beyond one's nose, stultify oneself, talk nonsense.