trifle

C2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈtɹaɪfəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #13552

Meanings

1

noun
Something of very little importance or value.

Don't waste your energy arguing over such a trifle.
2

noun
A small amount of something.

The journey took a trifle longer than we expected.
3

verb
To treat someone or something as unimportant, often carelessly.

You must not trifle with her feelings.
4

noun
An English dessert made of layers of sponge cake, fruit, custard, and whipped cream.

For dessert she served a trifle topped with fresh strawberries.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with trifle

trifle away Phrasal verb C2

to waste time, money, or another resource on unimportant things

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a small amount of something. bit crumb dash

More bagatelle bric-a-brac dickydicky-birdficofigflamfewflyspeckminuityniff-naffpicayunescuddick

Word family

Forms trifledtriflertrifles

Related forms modicum

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

trifle away
to waste time, money, or another resource on unimportant things

Verb + adverb

Etymology

From Middle English trifle, trifel, triful, trefle, truyfle, trufful, from Old French trufle (“mockery”), a byform of trufe, truffe (“deception”), of uncertain origin.

*tewh₂- Proto-Indo-European trifle Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# trifle

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɹaɪfəl/
**Frequency rank:** 13552

## Meanings
1. Something of very little importance or value.
2. A small amount of something.
3. To treat someone or something as unimportant, often carelessly.
4. An English dessert made of layers of sponge cake, fruit, custard, and whipped cream.

## Examples
- Don't waste your energy arguing over such a trifle.
- The journey took a trifle longer than we expected.
- You must not trifle with her feelings.
- For dessert she served a trifle topped with fresh strawberries.

## Synonyms
- bagatelle
- bric-a-brac
- dicky
- dicky-bird
- fico
- fig
- flamfew
- flyspeck
- minuity
- niff-naff
- picayune
- scuddick

## Related Forms
- modicum

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *tewh₂-
- Root: trifle

## Etymology
From Middle English trifle, trifel, triful, trefle, truyfle, trufful, from Old French trufle (“mockery”), a byform of trufe, truffe (“deception”), of uncertain origin.

## AI Etymology
Trifle is from Middle English trifle, trifel, triful, trefle, truyfle, trufful, from Old French trufle (“mockery”), a byform of trufe, truffe (“deception”), of uncertain origin. Important recorded forms include *tewh₂- (Proto-Indo-European) and trifle (Middle English). Current senses include something of very little importance or value, a small amount of something, and to treat someone or something as unimportant, often carelessly. The wider family includes related words such as modicum.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

markdown