trivial
Americanadjective
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of very little importance or value; insignificant.
Don't bother me with trivial matters.
- Synonyms:
- trifling , frivolous , inconsequential , immaterial , slight , nugatory , unimportant
- Antonyms:
- important
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commonplace; ordinary.
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Biology. (of names of organisms) specific, as distinguished from generic.
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Mathematics.
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noting a solution of an equation in which the value of every variable of the equation is equal to zero.
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(of a theorem, proof, or the like) simple, transparent, or immediately evident.
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Chemistry. (of names of chemical compounds) derived from the natural source, or of historic origin, and not according to the systematic nomenclature.
Picric acid is the trivial name of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol.
adjective
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of little importance; petty or frivolous
trivial complaints
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ordinary or commonplace; trite
trivial conversation
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maths (of the solutions of a set of homogeneous equations) having zero values for all the variables
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biology denoting the specific name of an organism in binomial nomenclature
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biology chem denoting the popular name of an organism or substance, as opposed to the scientific one
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of or relating to the trivium
Related Words
See petty.
Other Word Forms
- supertrivial adjective
- trivially adverb
- trivialness noun
- untrivial adjective
- untrivially adverb
Etymology
Origin of trivial
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin triviālis “belonging to the crossroads or street corner,” hence “commonplace,” equivalent to tri- “three” + vi(a) “road” + -ālis adjective suffix; tri-, -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Such trivial concerns were left to lesser schools, institutions that perhaps couldn’t appreciate the sanctity of a 10-week regular season, the purity of life without football scholarships, or the venerable tradition of Harvard-Yale.
The fact that it was a parlor game, not pointillism, that inspired the lyric is proof of Sondheim’s credo that “playful doesn’t mean trivial any more than solemn means serious.”
One habit that precluded improvement was their reading of trivial romantic novels.
That might sound trivial, but traveling is stressful enough.
She called the BBC's findings "disturbing", adding: "There's enormous risks. It's not a trivial condition."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
