piffling 1 of 2

adjective

ˈpi-flən How to pronounce piffling (audio)
Definition of pifflingnext
as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention from his perspective as a billionaire, what the governor got paid was a piffling amount

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

piffling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of piffle
as in blundering

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for piffling
  1. nominal
  2. slight
  3. petty
  4. piddling
  5. trifling
  6. tiny
  7. trivial
  8. inconsiderable
Adjective
  • The sponsor's fee is set at an annual nominal rate of 0.40% of the euro in the Trust.
    Quartz Bot, Quartz, 7 Nov. 2024
  • And, on a more abstract level, a 4.2% 10-year yield isn’t out of line with a U.S. economy now operating at a 5.5% nominal GDP growth pace (based on current GDP tracking models and prevailing headline inflation rates).
    Michael Santoli, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2024
Definition of nominal
Adjective
  • The latest consumer price index is expected to show a slight increase for October.
    Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
  • The Slack survey found a slight increase in AI usage, up one percentage point between March and August 2024 for US respondents (32% to 33%).
    Emily Dreibelbis Forlini, PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024
Definition of slight
Adjective
  • Despite the emotional celebration, the Raptors’ Global Ambassador still had some petty energy to put into the air.
    Armon Sadler, VIBE.com, 4 Nov. 2024
  • There is a long tradition of petty smuggling in the region.
    Ed Caesar, The New Yorker, 4 Nov. 2024
Definition of petty
Adjective
  • Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.
    Star Tribune, 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
Definition of piddling
Adjective
  • And yet the movie’s insularity feels trifling and empty.
    David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024
  • The cost to find these answers, even in the near term, is relatively trifling.
    Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2023
Definition of trifling
Adjective
  • Persistent back pain is another indicator – this, too, is the result of tiny fractures or compression of the spine.
    Jianying Zhang, Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2024
  • But for the film, Caldwell and Honnold spent 38 days biking 2,320 miles from his home in Estes Park, Colorado, to the tiny town of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where the roadway ends.
    Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 8 Nov. 2024
Definition of tiny
Adjective
  • Seemingly small or trivial accuracy improvements could actually play a crucial role when applied in extreme, emergency settings.
    Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2024
  • What might feel like trivial small talk is actually an invitation for connection.
    Mark Travers, Forbes, 27 Oct. 2024
Definition of trivial
Adjective
  • That pipeline, now at the heart of the NS2 dispute, still carries Russian gas to Germany, yielding between $2 billion and $3 billion in annual transit fees for Ukraine – not an inconsiderable amount for an economy whose total gross domestic product was $154 billion in 2020.
    Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Aug. 2021
  • For even very good students who can afford the not inconsiderable tuition, deciding which campuses to list on the UC application — each costs $70 — is less about personal preference and more about figuring out which one offers any hope of acceptance.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2021
Definition of inconsiderable
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near piffling

piffles

piffling

pig

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Piffling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffling. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
silhouette of a man with a megaphone against a british flag
Another Great British Vocabulary Quiz, Innit? A double-decker quiz with words from across the pond