piddling

adjective

pid·​dling ˈpid-lən How to pronounce piddling (audio)
-liŋ;
ˈpi-dᵊl-ən,
-iŋ

Examples of piddling in a Sentence

He was paid a piddling amount of money. raised one final, piddling objection to the plan
Recent Examples on the Web Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%. Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020 Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling. Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020 What’s particularly baffling is that Syria now produces a piddling amount of oil—about as much as Utah. Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2019 That will make the current economic uncertainty look piddling. Daniel W. Drezner, Twin Cities, 15 Aug. 2019 In the battle for mind share, in the Trumpian quest to be part of every conversation, the Pixel far outweighs its piddling sales. Vlad Savov, The Verge, 16 Oct. 2018 Of those, only four rather piddling victories went the liberals’ way. The Economist, 30 June 2018 Learning about other runners' struggles and triumphs helps put my piddling run into a bigger narrative, often allowing me to see myself differently within another story. Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 21 June 2018 How to: Improve the Wi-Fi reception in your home The most-improved was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which went from a piddling 2.68 Mbps download speed in 2017 to 59.62 Mbps this year. Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, 12 June 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'piddling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1559, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of piddling was in 1559

Dictionary Entries Near piddling

Cite this Entry

“Piddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/piddling. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

piddling

adjective
pid·​dling ˈpid-lən How to pronounce piddling (audio)
-liŋ,
-ᵊl-ən,
-ᵊl-iŋ
: lacking size or importance : trivial
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