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frivolous

frivolous

74 6.8
Not serious and not useful, often wasting time or money
  • adjective
  • /ˈfrɪvələs/
translation icon : frívolo
  • Her frivolous remarks during the meeting showed that she was not taking the project's seriousness into account.
  • frivolous suits
  • frivolous claims
  • frivolous cases

My stuff isn't frivolous, but we do have fun.

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Examples

  • Now that right there, that's a frivolous lawsuit.

  • What they did the rest of the time seemed frivolous and forgettable.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • It's because we, we have only given them the frivolous to act on.

  • And although it's, it seems very frivolous and nothing to me.

  • So maybe we're frivolous because times are easy and soft.

  • And a lot of our wants are very frivolous, right?

  • It's a frivolous concern in times like these.

  • People were living frivolous lives of excess.

  • And it's just nice to have a side that enjoys the more frivolous part of life, right?

  • We try to keep frivolous lawsuits to a minimum.

Synonyms

silly
vsfrivolous
976 1.0

Not sensible and often a little foolish

emphasizes absence of serious purpose or value rather than childishness
frivol
vsfrivolous
  • Archaic
7.8

Not serious and showing little concern for important things

is the standard longer adjective form used in modern writing
featherbrained
vsfrivolous
  • Offensive
8.3

Not serious and likely to make bad choices

focuses more on lack of seriousness or purpose than on poor judgment

Antonyms

1.0

A person or thing that matters a lot

452 1.4

Calm and focused, not playful or joking

How Frivolous

flippant
15 7.7
silly
976 1.0
frivolous
74 6.8
lighthearted
17 3.7
carefree
41 2.9

Surface Forms

frivolous positive
frivolouser comparative
frivolousest superlative

Morphology

frivolous = frivolity (opaque) = frivol + ous

The stem 'frivol-' is not a productive or standalone English base for learners, so adding the common suffix '-ous' does not make the meaning predictable to an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Frivolous comes from an old Latin word frivolus meaning 'worthless' or 'silly'. Picture someone treating serious matters like light play — that's why something frivolous is not serious or has little real value.