# frivolous

Pronunciation: say "FRIV-uh-luhs" /ˈfɹɪv.ə.ləs/

## Adjective

1. Silly, especially at the wrong time or in the wrong way; having no good reason to exist or to act as one does, or driven by a passing whim.
   - Simple: Silly when you should be serious, or done for no good reason, just because you felt like it.
   - _The senator's frivolous tone struck many listeners as jarring at a memorial for the flood victims._
   - _Investors grew wary of a founder who seemed frivolous, launching new products on a whim and dropping them weeks later._
2. Of little weight or importance; too slight or trivial to be worth anyone's notice.
   - Simple: Not important and not worth paying attention to.
   - _The editor cut several frivolous details so the report could focus on the budget shortfall._
   - _Compared with the safety problems in the building, complaints about the lobby's paint color seemed frivolous._
3. Of a lawsuit, having no reasonable chance of success because its claim has no merit and no legal or factual support, as the party filing it knows or should know.
   - Simple: Of a court case: sure to lose because no facts or laws support it, as the person bringing it should know.
   - _The company asked the court to dismiss the suit as frivolous, arguing that the plaintiff had no evidence of any contract._
   - _Lawmakers proposed new penalties for attorneys who file frivolous lawsuits to pressure small businesses into settling._

## Origin

From Latin frīvolus, meaning 'silly, empty, trifling, or worthless.' Its ending was changed to match the English suffix -ous.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/frivolous (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).