trivial
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triv·i·al
(trĭv′ē-əl)adj.
1. Of little significance or value.
2. Concerned with or involving unimportant matters; superficial: a trivial colleague; a trivial remark.
3. Mathematics
a. Of, relating to, or being the solution of an equation in which every variable is equal to zero.
b. Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case; self-evident.
[Middle English trivialle, of the trivium (from Medieval Latin triviālis, from trivium, trivium; see trivium) and Latin triviālis, ordinary (from trivium, crossroads).]
triv′i·al·ly adv.
Synonyms: trivial, trifling, paltry, petty, picayune
These adjectives all apply to what is unimportant and of little consequence. Trivial and trifling refer to what is so insignificant as to be utterly commonplace or unremarkable: "Both sides appreciated that behind this apparently trivial matter of naval salutes lay weighty issues of sovereignty at sea" (Simon Schama)."Now he was smitten with compunction, yet irritated that so trifling an omission should be stored up against him after nearly two years of marriage" (Edith Wharton).
Paltry describes what falls so far short of what is required or desired that it arouses contempt: "The mere fact of grave issues in life depending on such paltry things is monstrously ludicrous" (George Gissing).
Petty usually refers to what is of minor or lesser significance: "Religious slurs, temper tantrums, insults, coercion, debt: all petty things, really, irritants—too minor, it would seem, to move five reasonable people to murder" (Donna Tartt).
What is picayune is of negligible value or importance: "Everything was numbers-oriented—better to close out thirty-five picayune cases than go after two quality ones" (Selwyn Raab).
These adjectives all apply to what is unimportant and of little consequence. Trivial and trifling refer to what is so insignificant as to be utterly commonplace or unremarkable: "Both sides appreciated that behind this apparently trivial matter of naval salutes lay weighty issues of sovereignty at sea" (Simon Schama)."Now he was smitten with compunction, yet irritated that so trifling an omission should be stored up against him after nearly two years of marriage" (Edith Wharton).
Paltry describes what falls so far short of what is required or desired that it arouses contempt: "The mere fact of grave issues in life depending on such paltry things is monstrously ludicrous" (George Gissing).
Petty usually refers to what is of minor or lesser significance: "Religious slurs, temper tantrums, insults, coercion, debt: all petty things, really, irritants—too minor, it would seem, to move five reasonable people to murder" (Donna Tartt).
What is picayune is of negligible value or importance: "Everything was numbers-oriented—better to close out thirty-five picayune cases than go after two quality ones" (Selwyn Raab).
Word History: The word trivial entered Middle English with senses quite different from its most common contemporary ones. We find in a work from 1432-50 mention of the "arte trivialle," an allusion to the three liberal arts that made up the trivium, the lower division of the seven liberal arts taught in medieval universities—grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The history of trivial goes back to the Latin word trivium, formed from the prefix tri-, "three," and via, "road." Trivium thus meant "the meeting place of three roads, especially as a place of public resort." The publicness of such a place also gave the word a pejorative sense that we express in the phrase the gutter, as in "His manners were formed in the gutter." The Latin adjective triviālis, derived from trivium, thus meant "appropriate to the street corner, commonplace, vulgar." Trivial is first recorded in English with a sense identical to that of triviālis in 1589. Shortly after that trivial is recorded in the sense most familiar to us, "of little importance or significance," making it a word now used of things less weighty than grammar, rhetoric, and logic.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
trivial
(ˈtrɪvɪəl)adj
1. of little importance; petty or frivolous: trivial complaints.
2. ordinary or commonplace; trite: trivial conversation.
3. (Mathematics) maths (of the solutions of a set of homogeneous equations) having zero values for all the variables
4. (Biology) biology denoting the specific name of an organism in binomial nomenclature
5. (Biology) biology chem denoting the popular name of an organism or substance, as opposed to the scientific one
6. (Historical Terms) of or relating to the trivium
[C15: from Latin triviālis belonging to the public streets, common, from trivium crossroads, junction of three roads, from tri- + via road]
ˈtrivially adv
ˈtrivialness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
triv•i•al
(ˈtrɪv i əl)adj.
1. of very little importance or value; insignificant.
2. commonplace; ordinary.
[1400–50; late Middle English < Latin triviālis commonplace =trivi(um) place where three roads meet, public place (tri- tri- + -vium, derivative of via road) + -ālis -al1]
triv′i•al•ism, n.
triv′i•al•ist, n.
triv′i•al•ly, adv.
syn: See petty.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
trivial
- folderol - Trivial or nonsensical fuss, nonsense, or a useless trifle.
- nugacious, nugatory - Nugacious and nugatory are synonyms for trivial.
- pelsy - Means "trivial, trashy, of little value."
- psilology - A love of trivial or vacuous talk.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
Adj. | 1. | trivial - (informal) small and of little importance; "a fiddling sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "a dispute over niggling details"; "limited to petty enterprises"; "piffling efforts"; "giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech unimportant - not important; "a relatively unimportant feature of the system"; "the question seems unimportant" |
2. | trivial - of little substance or significance; "a few superficial editorial changes"; "only trivial objections" unimportant, insignificant - devoid of importance, meaning, or force | |
3. | trivial - concerned with trivialities; "a trivial young woman"; "a trivial mind" frivolous - not serious in content or attitude or behavior; "a frivolous novel"; "a frivolous remark"; "a frivolous young woman" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
trivial
adjective unimportant, little, small, minor, slight, everyday, petty, meaningless, commonplace, worthless, trifling, insignificant, negligible, frivolous, paltry, incidental, puny, inconsequential, trite, inconsiderable, valueless, nickel-and-dime (U.S. slang), wanky (taboo slang), chickenshit (U.S. slang) I don't like to visit the doctor just for something trivial.
important, serious, significant, essential, vital, crucial, unusual, considerable, profound, worthwhile, uncommon, weighty
important, serious, significant, essential, vital, crucial, unusual, considerable, profound, worthwhile, uncommon, weighty
Quotations
"What mighty contests rise from trivial things" [Alexander Pope The Rape of the Lock]
"What mighty contests rise from trivial things" [Alexander Pope The Rape of the Lock]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
trivial
adjectiveNot of great importance:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
bezvýznamnýtriviálnídruhovýpovrchní
triviel
arginetavalinetühine
mitätöntavallinentriviaalivähäpätöinenyksinkertainen
trivijalan
igénytelen
smávægileguryfirborîslegur, léttúîugur
些細な自明な蛇足の通称ありふれた
사소한
nepomemben
trivial
ไม่สำคัญ
ít quan trọng
trivial
[ˈtrɪvɪəl] ADJ [details, matter] → trivial, banal; [person] → frívolo; [sum] → insignificante, nimioI found it all rather trivial → me parecía todo muy trivial
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
trivial
adj
→ trivial; objection, loss, details, matters → geringfügig, belanglos, trivial; mistake → belanglos; look, your health is not something trivial → hör mal, mit der Gesundheit ist nicht zu spaßen!; the trivial round → das triviale Einerlei
person → oberflächlich
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
trivial
[ˈtrɪvɪəl] adj (matter) → futile; (excuse, comment) → banale; (amount) → irrisorio/a; (mistake) → di poco contoCollins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
trivia
(ˈtriviə) noun plural unimportant matters or details. I haven't time to worry about such trivia.
ˈtrivial adjective1. of very little importance. trivial details.
2. (especially of people) only interested in unimportant things; not at all serious. She's a very trivial person.
ˈtrivially adverbˌtriviˈality (-ˈa-) noun
1. the state of being trivial.
2. (plural triviˈalities) something which is trivial. He is always worrying about some triviality or other.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
trivial
→ تَافِه triviální triviel trivial τετριμμένος trivial vähäpätöinen trivial trivijalan insignificante 些細な 사소한 triviaal triviell błahy trivial тривиальный trivial ไม่สำคัญ önemsiz ít quan trọng 微不足道的Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009