Other forms: trifles
A trifle is something of no importance at all. A mere trifle, quarrel over trifles, a trifle annoyed.
As an adverb, a trifle means slightly, and it is a very English understatement: a trifle annoyed usually means furious. The pudding of sponge, custard and cream took the same name, from an older sense meaning something light and frivolous.
1nountrifleSomething of no importance at all.
“Don't waste your energy getting angry over such a trifle.”
trifle is a small thing.
t-RIFLE → a RIFLE
He points a rifle at you across the room and it fires nothing at all but a little smoke and a click. You brush your coat and go back to your dinner.
hooks ontorifle
Old French trufle meant mockery or a trick. The sense of something slight followed, and the pudding took the name later.
Proto-Indo-European
*tewh₂-
Old French
trufle — mockery
Middle English
trifle
English, today
trifle
Built from
From Middle English trifle, trifel, triful, trefle, truyfle, trufful, from Old French trufle (“mockery”), a byform of trufe, truffe (“deception”), of uncertain origin.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA