Trifle

Definition: Trifle

Trifle

Noun

1. Jam-spread sponge cake soaked in wine served with custard sauce.

2. A detail that is considered insignificant.

3. Something of small importance.

Verb

1. Waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently.

2. Act frivolously.

3. Consider not very seriously; "He is trifling with her"; "She plays with the thought of moving to Tasmania".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "trifle" was first used: 12th century. (references)

Synonyms: Trifle

Deception

Decoy, waylay, lure, beguile, delude, inveigle; entrap, intrap, ensnare; nick, springe; set a trap, lay a trap, lay a snare for; bait the hook, forelay, spread the toils, lime; trapan, trepan; kidnap; let in, hook in; nousle, nousel; blind a trail; enmesh, immesh; shanghai; catch, catch in a trap; sniggle, entangle, illaqueate, hocus, escamoter, practice on one's credulity; hum, humbug; gammon, stuff up, sell; play a trick upon one, play a practical joke upon one, put something over on one, put one over on; balk, trip up, throw a tub to a whale; fool to the top of one's bent, send on a fool's errand; make game, make a fool of, make an April fool of, make an ass of; trifle with, cajole, flatter; come over; (influence); gild the pill, make things pleasant, divert, put a good face upon; dissemble.

Disrespect

Verb: hold in disrespect; (despise); misprize, disregard, slight, trifle with, set at naught, pass by, push aside, overlook, turn one's back upon, laugh in one's sleeve; be disrespectful; Adjective:, be discourteous; treat with disrespect;Noun: set down, put down, browbeat.

Imbecility Folly

Trifle, drivel, radoter, dote; ramble; (madness); 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.

Inactivity

Idle away time, trifle away time, fritter away time, fool away time; spend time in, take time in; peddle, piddle; potter, pudder, dabble, faddle fribble, fiddle-faddle; dally, dilly-dally.

Neglect

Scamp; trifle, fribble; do by halves; cut; slight; (despise); play with, trifle with; slur, skim, skim the surface; effleurer; take a cursory view of.

Smallness

Trifle; (unimportant thing); mere nothing, next to nothing; hardly anything; just enough to swear by; the shadow of a shade.

Unimportance

Toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, " trifles light as air "; yankee notions.

Crosswords: Trifle

Swedish (trifle).

You would find the conversation a trifle one-sided (Casablanca; writing credit: Murray Burnett; Joan Alison)

I wasn't supposed to put beef in the trifle! (Friends; writing credit: Jörn O. Jensen; Birger Larsen)

A trifle further and reel and rock with (Roll Over Beethoven; performing artist: Chuck Berry)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

References

• The 2003-2008 World Outlook for Instant and Trifle Packet Desserts (reference)

  (more reference examples)

Books

• A Trifle, a Coddle, a Fry (reference)

• Two of a Kind: An English Trifle (reference)

  (more book examples)

Consumer Goods

• Laura Glass Handcrafted Soho Trifle Bowl (reference)

  (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

In this prison at Arras there was a former convict named Brevet, who is there for some trifle, and who, for his good conduct, has been made turnkey

He received it with abundance of thanks, more than such a trifle could deserve

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "trifle": a trifle ♦ it's a mere trifle ♦ that is a mere trifle ♦ to trifle with ♦ trifle away ♦ trifle injury ♦ trifle with ♦ trifle with a woman ♦ trifle with the arts. Additional references.

Beginning with "trifle": trifle-dish.

Afrikaans

bakatel, bagatel. (various references)

Albanian

sillem mendjelehtë, sasi e vogël (dole, drachm, dram, dribblet, handful, modicum, smack, smattering, sprinkle), gjë e vogël (minikin), bëj shaka (badinage, gag, jape, jest, joke, kid, make a game of, make smb. laugh, quiz, rally, rot), çikërrimë (cheese paring, jiggery pokery, nothing, pin, pin head, triviality). (various references)

Arabic 

‏كعكة من الخمر والكريم, ‏مقدار ضئيل (crumb, dab, dash, dribble, element, glimmer, hint, mouthful, nip, peanut, smack, trace, whit), ‏مزح (banter, banting, chaff, fool, frolic, fun, in play, joke, kid, lark, make fun of, rag, skylark, waggle), ‏لها (dally, disport, have a good time, have fun, play about, toy, tumble), ‏تافه (banal, commonplace, contemptible, crummy, fade, fiddling, flat, foolish, footling, fractional, frivolous, frothy, good for nothing, inane, inconsiderable, insignificant, junk, light, lilliputian, little, lowbrow, measly, minute, naught, negligible, niggling, nonsensical, nugatory, null, paltry, pedestrian, petty, piddling, pimping, piteous, pitiable, platitudinous, pointless, puny, ridiculous, run of the mill, silly, slight, slim, small time, smelly, stupid, trifling, trite, trivial, trumpery, two a penny, two bit, twopenny-halfpenny, unimportant, unsavory, unsavoury, unworthy, vain, valueless, vapid, vile, worthless), ‏عبث (dalliance, fiddlestick, flightiness, flirtation, frivolity, futility, loiter, mess up, moonshine, mosey, palter, piddle, piffling, pointless, potter, shallowness, toy, twiddle), ‏أضاع الوقت سدى (piddle, twiddle), ‏دبلوماسي (diplomat, diplomatic), ‏بدد الوقت. (various references)

Bulgarian 

въртя (manage, move, revolve, roll, roll about, rotate, spin, sway, swing, switch, swivel, toss about, turn, twiddle, wag, wheel about, wiggle, wind), вид месинг, отнасям се несериозно (play about), отнасям се пренебрежително (mess about, mess around), мъничко (scruple, shade, smack, sprinkle, stick, thimbleful, tincture, touch, trace), пипам (feel, filch, handle, interfere, meddle, paw, touch), дреболия (bagatelle, detail, doit, fiddlestick, fillip, knack, non essential, nothing, nothingness, pin head, playgame, tittle, toy, trick, twopence), дребна сума (groat, peanuts). (various references)

Chinese 

琐事, 瑣事 . (various references)

Czech

zahrávat si (palter), malièkost (bagatelle, doit, exiguity, penny, pittance, straw), hloupost (dullness, fatuity, fatuousness, foolishness, garbage, ineptitude, ineptness, lunacy, silliness, simplicity, stupidity), drobnost, žertovat (banter, fool, fool around, jest, joke, make fun, play tricks), špetka (dash, modicum, nip, sprinkling, taste, trace, whit). (various references)

Danish

bagatelskade (trifle injury). (various references)

Dutch

futiliteit, bagatel. (various references)

Esperanto

laboreto, bagatelo. (various references)

Farsi 

چیزجزءی , ناچیز (Inconsequential, Inconsiderable, Little, Meager, Negligible, Nugatory, Pelting, Peppercorn, Piddling, Poor, Runty, Scrimp, Straw, Teeny, Trivial, Vain), ناقابل (Bagatelle, Incapable, Inconsiderable, Trivial), کم بها, سرسری گرفتن , بازیچه قراردادن . (various references)

Finnish

tyhjänpäiväisyys (trifling matter, triviality), vähäpätöinen asia, pikkuseikka (minor point), pikkuasia (trifling matter), joutava asia (bagatelle, mere nothing). (various references)

French

bagatelle. (various references)

German

Kleinigkeit (bagatelle, fussiness, little thing, littleness, minor detail, small point, small thing, snack, trivial matter), Bagatelle (bagatelle). (various references)

Greek 

σαχλαμάρα (bosh, bunk, foolery, idiocy, mush, platitude, stupidity), γλυκό σαβουαγιάρ κρέμα & λικέ, μικρολογώ (cavil, higgle, niggle), μηδαμινό πράγμα (nicknack), πραγματάκι, παίζω (act, dally, fool around, frolic, game, horse around, monkey, play, rollick, sport, toy, twiddle), ενεργώ ελαφρώσ, ελάχιστο κάτι, ομιλώ ελαφρώσ. (various references)

Hebrew 

ל�"שתעשע ב- (fiddle with, monkey with, twiddle), קצת (a few, little, slightly, some, somewhat), �"בר של מ�" בכך (bagatelle, insignificant matter, triviality), �"בר קל ערך, �"בר פעוט, � קל�" (contemptible, despised, vile). (various references)

Hungarian

csekélység (bagatelle, jot, paucity, pettiness, triviality), apróság (fillip, peanuts, peewee, Pinkie, small matter, tiny tot, tot, whatnot), egy kicsit (a bit, little, rather, something). (various references)

Italian

inezia (flapdoodle, jot, minim, molehill). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

瑣事 (something small or petty), 細事 (minor detail), 厘毛 (farthing), 些事 (something small or petty), 尺寸 (tiny), 小事 (trifling matter), 仮初め (negligence, temporariness, transience), 仮初 (negligence, temporariness, transience). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

しゃくす�" (tiny), しょうじ (administrator of a manor, alley, commercial affairs, demagnetization, lane, little while, one's early days, paper sliding door, simplification of a kanji, trifling matter), さいじ (festival, minor detail, rites, ritual, small type or handwriting, year), さじ (something small or petty, spoon), せきす�" (tiny), かりそめ (neglecting, negligence, slighting, temporariness, transience, trifling), り�"もう (farthing). (various references)

Manx

traifyl, taaree (worthless catch), mynred, fooillagh millish. (various references)

Papiamen

bagatèl. (various references)

Pig Latin

ifletray.(various references)

Portuguese

bagatela (bagatelle, dab, doit, falderal, fangle, fillip, gewgaw, inch, kickshaw, knick-knack, nick-nack, nothing, ought, picayune, pin-head, rap, rot, rubbish, straw, toy, trinket). (various references)

Romanian

rahat (poop, turkish delight), nimic (anything, bauble, fillip, flea-bite, morsel, naught, negation, nil, nonentity, nothing, nothingness, nought, stiver), moft (caprice, crotchet, fad), lucru de nimic (fribble), jucãrie (bauble, child's play, gewgaw, plaything, sport, tool, toy), juca (act, dance, enact, frolic, gamble, gambol, game, hazard, interpret, perform, play, present, produce, put on, sport, stake, wanton), gâgâlice (crumb, dandiprat, dumpy, hop-o'-my-thumb, whipper-snapper), fleac (a piece of cake, bauble, bunkum, chaff, doit, fillip, flapdoodle, flea-bite, flummery, fribble, kickshaw, knick knack, nil, nothing, nothingness, peppercorn, pin head, push over, rot, rubbish, rubble, small beer, stiver, tittle tattle, trash, trinket), chiţibuş (detail, shift, subtlety), boabã (bead, Berry, drop), bagatelã (doit, humbug, knick knack, nothingness, pin point, stiver, trinket), aliaj de cositor şi plumb (pewter), a-şi bate joc de (ballyrag, deride, have a fling at, hold in derision, lash, make fun of, mock, scamp, sneer, sport). (various references)

Russian 

пустяк (a mere nothing, gewgaw, matter of indifference, nonsense, nothing, straw). (various references)

Scottish

priobaid (a trifle), munar (a trifle), leibid (a trifle). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

tričarija (bauble, gimcrack, knick knack, Nick nack, nicknack, trinket), smejurija (laughter), sitnica (doit, jot, pennywort, sop, whatnot, what-not), ludirati se (caper, fool about, romp), bagatela (bagatelle, bargain, trinket), šaliti se (droll, fool, fool around, jest, joke, kid, lark, monkey, niggle). (various references)

Spanish

friolera, bagatela (bagatelle, oddment, trinket). (various references)

Swedish

småsak (bauble, bijou, fluff, knick knack, knick-knack, Nick nack), bagatell (bagatelle, fiddle, fluff, pettiness, pinpoint, small matter, triviality). (various references)

Turkish

ucuz süs, pandispanyalı tatlı, oyalanmak (amuse oneself, be amused, be pleased with, dally, delay, dilly dally, disport oneself, fool, fool about, fool around, footle, fribble, frivol, hang out, linger, loiter, mess around, monkey around, piddle, play around, Potter, potter about, potter at, procrastinate, stay, Tarry, trifle with, waste time), küçük şey (little thing, the little, tot), hafife almak (consider unimportant, coquet, disdain, extenuate, piddle, slight, soft pedal, trifle with, underestimate, undervalue), değersiz şey (cheeseparing, damn, falderal, gold brick, junk, lemon, rag, shoddy, slush, small beer, stiver, trumpery), boş konuşmak (gab, gammon, haver, jaw, prate, talk the hind legs off a donkey), az miktar (dribblet, driblet, drop, few, fewness, inch, little, Mickle, modicum, shade, smallness, suggestion, suspicion, tinge, twopence), üşengeçlik etmek, önemsiz şey (bagatelle, bauble, cypher, iota, knickknack, makeweight, mickey mouse, molehill, nicknack, no big deal, picayune, rush, small beer, stiver, straw, toy, tuppence, twopence, unessential, unimportant thing), önemsememek (be oblivious to, close one's eyes to, coquet, discount, disregard, have a low opinion of, ignore, make light of, make little of, make nothing of, not to care twopence for, pay no attention, piss on smth., play down, play it low down, set at naught, set at nought, slight, slur over, toy, treat smb. like dirt, trifle with). (various references)

Ukrainian

трохи (a little, only a few), невелика кількість (a bit, handful, little, mouthful, scantling, smack), жартувати (badinage, banter, chaff, droll, fun, gag, jape, jest, joke, jolly, lark, lark around, monkey, play, yak), поводитися легковажно, дрібниця (bagatelle, barley-straw, fillip, minim, non essential, nonsense, nothing, nothingism, nought, triviality, whim-wham). (various references)

Vietnamese 

vật nhỏ mọn (kickshaw, picayune), một tí (fig, hairbreadth, hair's breadth, inch, rag), một chút (shred, somewhat, spice, tittle, tot). (various references)

Welsh

pencawna (dally), corodyn (baggage, toy), cellwair (badinage, banter, fun, jest, joke). (various references)

nugaces, paule, pauli, paulo, paululum, paulum, pusilla, pusilli, pusillis, pusillo, pusillorum, pusillum, trices, tripoli. (various references)

burra. (various references)

trufle. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "trifle": trifled, trifler, triflers, trifles. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Trifle" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Grifel, trafe, trale, trefe, treffrey, Treflyf, trele, tridle, trif, trifal, trife, trifel, trifely, triffle, trifie, trifile, trifley, triflle, Triflon, trifly, Triglaf, Triglav, trikle, trile, trisle, trofe, trufe, trufel. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Direct Anagrams: filter, lifter.

-1 letter: filer, filet, flier, flirt, flite, lifer, liter, litre, refit, relit, rifle, tiler.

-2 letters: felt, file, fire, flit, fret, frit, left, lief, lier, life, lift, lire, lite, reft, reif, riel, rife, rift, rile, rite, tier, tile, tire, tirl, tref.

-3 letters: eft, elf, fer, fet, fie, fil, fir, fit, ire, lei, let, lie, lit, ref.

+1 letter: fertile, filbert, filters, firelit, flirted, flirter, flitter, flutier, flytier, lifters, loftier, stifler, trefoil, trifled, trifler, trifles.

+2 letters: faultier, featlier, fewtrils, filature, filberts, filister, filtered, filterer, filthier, filtrate, flichter, flintier, flirters, flirtier, flitters, floatier, fluorite, flytiers, frailest, fruitlet, inflater, refilter, riftless, stiflers, trefoils, triflers, turflike, uplifter.

+3 letters: afterlife, airlifted, electrify, faltering, fertilely, fertility, fertilize, filatures, filisters, filterers, filtering, filtrable, filtrated, filtrates, firelight, flatliner, flauntier, flichters, flightier, flirtiest, flittered, floriated, fluorites, forestial, fortalice, frailties, frilliest, frontline, fruitless, fruitlets, fulgurite, furtively, infertile, inflaters, inflicter, interfile, interflow, interfold, laticifer, preflight, refilters, reflating, reflation, reinflate, ruffliest, telfering, ultrafine, unfertile, uplifters, welfarist.