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frivolous

UK/ˈfɹɪv.ə.ləs/US/ˈfɹɪv.ə.ləs/
adjectiveC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,678 of 15,258neutral

Frivolous means not serious when seriousness is called for. A frivolous remark, a frivolous purchase, a frivolous claim.

In law it has a precise sense: a frivolous claim is one with no legal basis at all, and a court can throw it out and order costs. In ordinary use it means light-minded, and it is one of those judgements that says as much about the speaker.

Definitions of frivolous

  1. 1adjectivefrivolousNot serious when seriousness is called for.C1

    “He made frivolous jokes at the funeral, which upset the family.”

frivolous is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin frivolus means silly or worthless, of uncertain further origin.

  1. Latin

    frīvolus — silly, empty, trifling, frivolous, worthless

  2. English, today

    frivolous

From Latin frīvolus (“silly, empty, trifling, frivolous, worthless”), with the ending modified to match -ous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

frivolous in the wild

  • Jurisdictions differ on whether a claim or defense can be frivolous if the attorney acted in good faith.

    Frivolous litigation

  • The taking of an appeal, even a frivolous one, is not enough to constitute an abuse of process.

    Malicious prosecution

  • A frivolous party or a joke party is a political party which has been created for the purposes of entertainment or political satire.

    List of frivolous political parties

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.