# trifling

Pronunciation: US say "TRY-fling" /ˈtɹaɪflɪŋ/; UK

## Adjective

1. So minor or small as to be of little importance; trivial.
   - Simple: Small and not very important.
   - _They sold the old farmhouse for a trifling sum._
   - _The dispute began over a trifling matter of who would pay for the coffee._
3. Lacking seriousness or serious purpose; frivolous.
   - Simple: Silly and not serious.
   - _She grew tired of his trifling chatter about parties and clothes._
   - _Critics dismissed the novel as a trifling entertainment with nothing to say._
4. Of a person or behavior, worthless, lazy, shady, or disgustingly careless. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: Lazy, dishonest, or nasty in a way people find shameful.
   - _Her trifling cousin borrowed her car and brought it back on empty._
   - _"That trifling man hasn't paid child support in a year," she told her sister._

## Verb

2. Present participle and gerund of trifle: treating someone or something without due seriousness, or idly wasting time or money. — present participle and gerund of trifle
   - Simple: Present participle and gerund of trifle: treating someone or something too lightly, or wasting time on unimportant things.
   - _He was trifling with her feelings and never meant to marry her._
   - _Rather than trifling away his inheritance on horses and cards, he should have invested it in the family business._

## Noun

5. Frivolous behavior, or an act of toying with things instead of taking them seriously.
   - Simple: Silly behavior, or wasting time on things that do not matter.

## Origin

By surface analysis, trifle + -ing.

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