trivialtriv‧i‧al /ˈtrɪviəl/ ●●○ adjective 
We were punished for the most trivial offences. a trivial sum Her feelings for Simon seemed trivial by comparison.► see thesaurus at unimportant
WORD ORIGINtrivial
Origin:
1400-1500 Latin trivialis ‘found everywhere, common’, from trivium ‘place where three roads meet, crossroads’, from tri- + via ‘way’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- No, I don't think your question is trivial at all.
- She often loses her temper over trivial matters.
- The issue of where the peace talks will be held may seem trivial, but to the participants it is very important.
- Why waste time watching trivial TV programs?
- And that is one reason why this presidential election is beginning to look so transparent and trivial.
- As far as social psychological concepts are concerned, the distinction between universal and particular is not a trivial one.
- From a human relations point of view, Janet had outsmarted Hazel by refusing to become a victim over a trivial matter.
- Having committed himself by revealing defence secrets, such freedom of speech seemed a trivial matter.
- In general they overestimate the amount available and underestimate the time wasted by being fragmented in small amounts on rather trivial matters.
- People in them feel liberated from the trivial and the arbitrary.
- Some ideas will be too trivial, some would be impossible to carry out.
- This is tiny, but not trivial.
THESAURUS
not important: · The exact details are unimportant.· Girls' education was seen as unimportant.
not important, or not very important. These phrases sound a little more formal than unimportant: · If you're capable of doing the job, your age is of no importance.· It's of little importance whether or not this story is true.
small and not very likely to have an important effect – used especially about changes, problems, injuries, damage, or differences: · I've made a few minor changes.· The driver suffered minor injuries.· These are just minor problems.
very unimportant and not worth worrying about or spending time on: · They had a disagreement about some trivial matter.· She tends to get upset about trivial things.
very small and unimportant, especially when compared to other things: · Her own problems seemed insignificant.· The amount of carbon they produce is relatively insignificant.
extremely small and not important – used especially about effects, amounts, differences, or risks: · So far, the program has had a negligible effect.· The difference in price is negligible.
not as important as something else: · These issues are of secondary importance.· For many women, a career is secondary to being a mother.
Longman Language Activatornot important formal not likely to cause problems or to have an important effect on something: · "I forgot to add the olive oil." "Don't worry -- it's not important."· I don't want to waste time arguing over unimportant details.· It is not important that you understand everything at this stage.· Critics have dismissed his work as unimportant.
a minor problem, accident, disagreement etc is small and does not have a serious effect or result: · Two car windows were broken and minor damage was done to some shops.· She suffered some minor injuries in the accident.· We've had a few minor problems with the new computer system.
not important enough to worry about, especially because there are other problems that are much more serious: · The level of radiation was considered 'insignificant' and not a danger to health.· There is a slight difference in the way men and women are affected by the drug, but this is not really significant.· After a week of negotiations, the differences between the two sides are now relatively insignificant.· EU financiers say that recent problems on the US stock markets were not significant for Europe.
something such as a problem, argument, or worry that is petty is so unimportant that it seems silly or selfish for someone to talk or worry about: · We started having arguments over petty little things.· The meeting spent too much time on petty issues, and didn't address the real problem.
unimportant and not serious, and not worth worrying about or spending time or effort on: · No, I don't think your question is trivial at all.· Why waste time watching trivial TV programs?· The issue of where the peace talks will be held may seem trivial, but to the participants it is very important.
not important and not likely to take long to deal with or correct: · Your essay's very good -- there are just one or two small points I'd like to discuss.· There were a couple of small things I wanted to talk to you about.· We had a few small problems when we were putting the design together, but it works fine now.
formal to not be important, and be unlikely to affect anything in a serious way: · If you're capable of doing the job, your age is of no importance.· These are small details and probably of no importance.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY We were punished for the most trivial offences. Her feelings for Simon seemed trivial by comparison.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
not serious, important, or valuabletrivial problem/matter/complaint etc We were punished for the most trivial offences. Her feelings for Simon seemed trivial by comparison. (=a matter that is not important)· Walking out over such a small matter may seem ridiculous.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· It contributed to a revaluation of photographic genres, so that snapshots could no longer be ignored as trivial and irrelevant.· It is not as trivial an achievement as you might imagine.· This latter task was not as trivial as may be supposed in a society where wood and straw huts burnt down regularly.· But they are wrong to see gay marriage as trivial or frivolous.· Interest in food, in warmth, in punishment, soon outstripped a matter as trivial as a fire.· As Goffmann points out these signs have been neglected or disparaged as trivial items.· So doubt is never treated as trivial.· It's definitely tempting to dismiss this peculiar, fledging series as trivial.
· To meet the target, managers were forced wastefully to expend resources on the most trivial complaints.· But the humans who taught them haven't managed to pick up even the most trivial elements of gorilla-speak.· She could not bear the claustrophobia of the place, which magnified the smallest incidents or most trivial remarks into giant horrors.· There was murder for gain, and for the most trivial and pointless reasons, often for hardly any reason at all.· I used to have a boyfriend who continually confounded me by his ability to remember the most trivial remarks weeks later.· And race difference is, among all the differences which have been used to justify oppression, probably the most trivial.· He gives the same fierce concentration to the most trivial action.
· I should say that these errors have all been without exception quite trivial in themselves.· The ten-knot speed of a liner is quite trivial by comparison.· All this is really quite trivial compared to my real concern.
· While the first of the four examples we have quoted seems relatively trivial, the final two have more significance.· Whether unfudgeability is a new principle is a relatively trivial point.
· Morphological processing is not quite so trivial for a computer as it is for a human.· My favorite dust-ups are when the marital conflict is over something so trivial that you laugh as you retell the story.· Other defects were so trivial as to have no effect.· For the very rich, the tax will be so trivial as to be unnoticed.· Those on the market at the moment are so trivial it is untrue.· I became tired with Ramon and his canvases and drinking and cursing, it all seemed so trivial.· He seemed far too competent for life to catch him out in so trivial a way.
· Some ideas will be too trivial, some would be impossible to carry out.· He is a man who feels that anything of this mere Earthly sphere is almost too trivial to notice.· The content may be too trivial or too deep for the group, causing embarrassment to the teacher.· Or they marry, and passion dies because they are too trivial to sustain it.· They may consider them too trivial or feel that the police would be able to offer little assistance.· Some crimes are not reported at all, because the victim regards them as too trivial.· No plot is too trivial for him to explore: Gaudy Night.· No internet service is too trivial to demand a password.
NOUN· In general they overestimate the amount available and underestimate the time wasted by being fragmented in small amounts on rather trivial matters.· From a human relations point of view, Janet had outsmarted Hazel by refusing to become a victim over a trivial matter.· Having committed himself by revealing defence secrets, such freedom of speech seemed a trivial matter.· Installing and maintaining a Web server is not a trivial matter, however, given the security and administrative issues involved.· In contrast to what he had been fearing, it was a trivial matter.· Our obsession with cleanliness is no trivial matter.· Criminalising them would cover trivial matters, such as neighbours quarrelling over a lawnmower.· A sad little tale it sounded, a trivial matter to consign a soul to perpetual separation.
· It is the same with science and its trivial names.· Before much was known about the structure, trivial names were the only way to identify compounds.· For the expert in the field, trivial names are short, convenient and an efficient means of communication.· Long live the tried and trusted trivial names!· Where the trivial name is easily remembered by association with shape, the systematic name would kill any enthusiasm.· The point of this is not the trivial name involved, but the fact that I remember it so clearly.
· May we never become so wrapped up in our own trivial problems that we forget to care about anyone else.
· You don't have any time for silly trivial things.· The poet sees in life a truth that gives significance to the otherwise mean and trivial things.
We were punished for the most trivial offences. a trivial sum Her feelings for Simon seemed trivial by comparison.► see thesaurus at unimportant