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trifling

noun

  1. time-wasting/silliness/frivolous talk/behavior
L329607 on Wikidata ↗

adjective

  1. unimportant/small/paltry/insignificant
L341338 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈtɹaɪfliŋ/

adj

Etymology: By surface analysis, trifle + -ing.

  1. Trivial, or of little importance.

    […] It is not ſo decorous in reſpect of God, that he ſhould αὐτουργεῖν ἅπαντα [autourgeîn hápanta], ſet his ovvn hand as it vvere to every vvork, and immediately do all the meaneſt and triflingſt things himſelf drudgingly, vvithout making uſe of any inferior or ſubordinate Miniſters.

    However, upon a ſtrict Review, I blotted out ſeveral Paſſages of leſs Moment which were in my firſt Copy, for fear of being cenſured as tedious and trifling, whereof Travellers are often, perhaps not without Juſtice, accuſed.

  2. Frivolous.

    For, really, as it is a trifling Age, ſo nothing but Trifles are valued in it. Men read none but trifling Authors, purſue none but trifling Amusements, and contend for none but trifling Opinions. A trifling Fellow is prefer'd, a trifling Woman admir'd.

  3. Good-for-nothing; shady or lazy; scrub.

    You trifling good for nothin’ type of brother.

    My hand was aching to slap that silly heifer. I told her to take her trifling ass down to Burger King and get herself a job flipping burgers […]

noun

Etymology: By surface analysis, trifle + -ing.

  1. The act of one who trifles; frivolous behaviour.

    He writes on the principle, of course, that in one's dotage we are privileged to return to the triflings of our infancy, and that Downing Street cannot be better employed in these days than as a chapel of ease to Eton.

verb

Etymology: By surface analysis, trifle + -ing.

  1. present participle and gerund of trifle