trifle

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

n. bagatelle, nothing, triviality; gewgaw, trinket, knickknack, gimcrack; particle, bit, morsel, trace. See littleness, unimportance. —v. i. toy, play, dally, fool. See neglect.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A small quantity]

Syn. particle, piece, speck; see bit 1 .

2. [A small degree]

Syn. jot, eyelash, fraction; see bit 3 .

3. [Something of little importance]

Syn. triviality, small matter, nothing; see insignificance .

v.

1. [To act without seriousness]

Syn. putter, potter, fribble, dip into, slur over, dawdle, dally, mock, play at, make fun, jest, act silly, loiter, idle about, lounge, fool around, indulge in horseplay, monkey with*, monkey around*, fool with*, fool around*, mess with*, mess around*, doodle*, string along*, futz around*, horse around*; see also change 1 , tamper with .

2. [To flirt]

Syn. flirt, dally, coquet, toy with, wink at, play with, play around, make advances; see also play , flirt 1 .

Syn.- trifle is the general term meaning to treat someone or something without earnestness, full attention, definite purpose, etc. [ began to trifle with the notion of retirement, trifling with her affections ] flirt implies a light, transient interest or attention that quickly moves on to another person or thing [flirted with several religions before becoming a philosopher ] dally implies a playing with a subject or thing that one has little or no intention of taking seriously [ to dally with painting ] ; coquet usually suggests a trifling in matters of love [ she coquetted with several men in her department ] ; toy implies a trifling or dallying with no purpose beyond that of amusement or idling away time [toying with the idea of writing a novel ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

1. trivial thing triviality, insignificant matter, nothing, no big thing, *nothing to sweat about, *nothing to get worked up about, *tempest in a teapot, *molehill.

2. small amount paltry amount, pittance, plug nickel, little, speck, *thimbleful, drop, *tad, smidgen, mite.

3. bauble knickknack, gewgaw, trinket, gimcrack, bagatelle, toy.

ANT.: 1. *bigdeal, monumental matter, weighty matter, *mountain. 2. wealth, bonanza, deluge, mass

II

v.

treat lightly, make light of, play with, toy with, mock, fool with, dally, discount, shortchange, laugh off, pass over, *play games with, disrespect, *dis.

ANT.: respect

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun 1. Something or things that are unimportant: fiddle-faddle, frippery, frivolity, froth, minutia, nonsense, small change, small potatoes, trivia, triviality. See IMPORTANT, SURFACE. 2. A small showy article: bauble, bibelot, gewgaw, gimcrack, knickknack, novelty, toy, trinket, whatnot. See THING. 3. A tiny amount: bit1, crumb, dab1, dash, dot, dram, drop, fragment, grain, iota, jot, minim, mite, modicum, molecule, ort, ounce, particle, scrap1, scruple, shred, smidgen, speck, tittle, whit. Chiefly British: spot. See BIG. II verb 1. To treat lightly or flippantly: dally, flirt, play, toy. See WORK. 2. To move one's fingers or hands in a nervous or aimless fashion: fiddle, fidget, fool, monkey, play, putter, tinker, toy, twiddle. See TOUCH. 3. To make amorous advances without serious intentions: coquet, dally, flirt, toy. See SEX.