Meaning of word trifles

финтифлюшка

существительное

- пустяк, мелочь, безделица
- пустячок, безделушка
- небольшое количество, небольшая сумма
- бисквит, пропитанный вином и залитый взбитыми сливками; пропитанный вином и залитый сбитыми сливками
- бессмысленный человек

глагол

- (trifle with) шутить, играть с (кем-л. / чем-л.); относиться несерьезно к (кому-л. / чему-л.), не принимать всерьез (кого-л. / что-л.)
- вести себя легкомысленно; заниматься пустяками
- (trifle with) теребить, вертеть в руках (что-л.), возиться, играть с (чем-л.)
- = trifle away тратить понапрасну (время, силы, деньги)
- (обыкн. with)

наречие

- немного, слегка, чуть-чуть

Словосочетания

be busy about trifles — суетиться по пустякам  
be busy with trifles — заниматься ерундой  
fume about trifles — волноваться по пустякам  
fume over trifles — волноваться по пустякам  
she is too happy a woman to think of such trifles — она слишком счастлива, чтобы думать о таких пустяках  
charge memory with trifles — забивать голову пустяками  
a persnickety stickler for trifles — человек, придирающийся к мелочам  
stick at trifles — останавливаться на мелочах  
wear away life in trifles — растрачивать жизнь на пустяки  
worry over trifles — беспокоиться по пустякам  

Примеры с переводом

Возможные однокоренные слова

trifle  — мелочь, пустяк, безделица, безделушка, шутить, играть, теребить

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English trifle, trifel, triful, trefle, truyfle, trufful, from Old French trufle (“mockery”), a byform of trufe, truffe (“deception”), of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪfəl/
• Rhymes: -aɪfəl
• Hyphenation: tri‧fle

Noun[edit]

trifle (countable and uncountable, plural trifles)

1. An English dessert made from a mixture of thick custard, fruit, sponge cake, jelly and whipped cream.

   Coordinate terms: tiramisu, bread pudding

2. Anything that is of little importance or worth.

   Synonyms: bagatelle, minor detail, whiffle; see also Thesaurus:trifle

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

     Trifles light as air
     Are to the jealous confirmation strong
     As proofs of holy writ.

   • 1627, Michaell Drayton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “Nimphidia. The Court of Fayrie.”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for VVilliam Lee, […], published 1631, →OCLC:

     Olde Chaucer doth of Topas tell,
     Mad Rablais of Pantagruell,
     A latter third of Dowsabell,
     With such poore trifles playing:

   • 1722 (indicated as 1721), [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […]; and T. Edlin, […]; W[illiam] Mears, […]; J. Brotherton, […]; C. King, and J. Stags, […], published 1722, →OCLC, page 34:

     […] when they had the Character and Honour of a Woman at their Mercy, often times made it their Jest, and at least look’d upon it as a Trifle, and counted the Ruin of those, they had had their Will of, as a thing of no value.
   1. An insignificant amount of money.

      • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:

        A trifle, some eight-penny matter.

      • 1817 December​, [Jane Austen], Northanger Abbey; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], 1818, →OCLC:

        He told her of horses which he had bought for a trifle and sold for incredible sums […]

      • 1976, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York: Avon, →ISBN, page 462:

        “It was bad of me then not to send the fifteen hundred dollars. I assumed it would be a trifle.”
        “Well, until a few months ago it was a trifle.”

3. A very small amount (of something).

   Synonyms: smidgen; see also Thesaurus:modicum

   • 1742, Daniel Defoe, A tour thro’ the whole island of Great Britain, London: J. Osborn et al., Volume 2, Letter II. Containing A Description of the City of London, p. 90, footnote,^[1]

     This Line leaves out […] Poplar and Black-wall, which are indeed contiguous, a Trifle of Ground excepted, and very populous.

   • 1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 2, in Little Women: Or, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, part first, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1869, →OCLC:

     There was a good deal of rustling and whispering behind the curtain, a trifle of lamp smoke, and an occasional giggle from Amy […]

   • 1932, Graham Greene, Stamboul Strain, London: Heinemann, Part 4, p. 180,^[2]

     “Take just a trifle of French mustard […] ”

4. A particular kind of pewter.
5. (uncountable) Utensils made from this particular kind of pewter.

Derived terms[edit]

• a trifle

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

trifle (third-person singular simple present trifles, present participle trifling, simple past and past participle trifled)

1. (intransitive) To deal with something as if it were of little importance or worth.

   You must not trifle with her affections.

   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     […] Do not believe
     That, from the sense of all civility,
     I thus would play and trifle with your reverence:

   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 56, in Pride and Prejudice, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton […], →OCLC:

     “Miss Bennet,” replied her ladyship, in an angry tone, “you ought to know, that I am not to be trifled with […] ”

   • 1948, Alan Paton, Cry, the Beloved Country, Penguin, 1958, Book 2, Chapter 11, p. 171,^[3]

     But a Judge may not trifle with the Law because the society is defective.

2. (intransitive) To act, speak, or otherwise behave with jest.
3. (intransitive) To inconsequentially toy with something.
   • 1965, Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate, New York: Fawcett, 1967, Part 1, Chapter 6, p. 151,^[4]

     She sat in a café, trifling with her coffee spoon.

4. (transitive) To squander or waste.

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     We trifle time: I pray thee, pursue sentence.

   • 1677, Hannah Woolley, The Compleat Servant-Maid, London: T. Passinger, p. 62,^[5]

     For an honest and sober man will rather make that woman his wife, whom he seeth employed continually about her business, than one who makes it her business to trifle away her own and others time.

   • 1817 December​, [Jane Austen], chapter VI, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 1818, →OCLC:

     As it was, he did nothing with much zeal, but sport; and his time was otherwise trifled away, without benefit from books or anything else.

   • 1925, Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway, New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985, p. 189,^[6]

     You who have known neither sorrow nor pleasure; who have trifled your life away!

5. (transitive, obsolete) To make a trifle of, to make trivial.

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

     […] but this sore night
     Hath trifled former knowings.

Synonyms[edit]

• (toy with): fiddle
• (squander): fritter, wanton

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

• trifle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams[edit]

• Trefil, filter, filtre, firtle, lifter, relift

Portuguese[edit]

Noun[edit]

trifle m (plural trifles)

1. trifle (English dessert)

Asked by: Aletha Grimes PhD

Score: 4.4/5
(12 votes)

Trifle comes in from Old French in the 13th century and has meant basically the same thing for much of its history. It started off as a way to refer to a false tale or foolishness or something trivial. By the 1300s, it can also refer to a small knick knack and by the 1500s, a small sum of money.

Why do they call it trifle?

According to FoodTimeline, the name trifle comes from “the Old French trufe (or truffle), meaning something of little importance.” For us, this means that dessert trifles should be easy to assemble, serve and eat. Take a look at these other easy dessert recipes that also come together in a snap.

What does trifle mean in Shakespeare?

Anything that is of little importance or worth. Synonyms: bagatelle, minor detail, whiffle, Thesaurus:trifle. circa 1604 William Shakespeare, Othello, Act III, Scene 3, Trifles light as air / Are to the jealous confirmation strong / As proofs of holy writ.

Is trifle an English dessert?

A layered melange of sponge cake soaked in drink (sherry, brandy or both), covered with jam, custard and cream, it is the quintessential English dessert. … From above, a trifle looks like a bowl full of whipped cream; from the side, its layers can be seen through the traditional glass serving bowl.

What is trifle called in America?

The English call versions of this cake a Tipsy Cake or Pudding, Tipsy Squire, and Tipsy Hedgehog. It was also known as Tipsy Parson and Tipsy Squire in America. The difference between these cakes and the original trifle is that these were all made with dried cake, rather than fresh.

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