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   Tri·fle

   /ˈtrīf(ə)l/

   

   noun

   • 1. a thing of little value or importance: "we needn't trouble the headmaster over such trifles" Similar unimportant thing/mattertrivial thing/mattertrivialitything/matter of no consequencething/matter of no importancebagatelleinessentialnothingtechnicalitytriviaminutiaebaubletrinketknickknackgimcrackgewgawtoyinformal:whatnotdoodah
   • ▪ a small amount of something: "the thousand yen he'd paid seemed the merest trifle" Similar very small amountnext to nothinghardly anythingpittanceinformal:peanutspiddling amountchump changeOpposite small fortune
   • 2. a cold dessert of sponge cake and fruit covered with layers of custard, jelly, and cream: British "syllabubs, trifles, and other dishes"

   verb

   • 1. treat (someone or something) without seriousness or respect: "he is not a man to be trifled with"
   • 2. talk or act frivolously: archaic "we will not trifle—life is too short"
   • ▪ waste something, especially time, frivolously: "he had trifled away two months at a task which should have taken a week"

   Word Origin Middle English (also denoting an idle story told to deceive or amuse): from Old French trufle, by-form of trufe ‘deceit’, of unknown origin. The verb derives from Old French truffler ‘mock, deceive’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. trifler noun

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • T

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   • R

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   • I

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   • F

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   • L

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   • E

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