Translations

5 languages
Русский
By meaning 4
To deal with something as if it were of little importance or worth:
To act, speak, or otherwise behave with jest:
To inconsequentially toy with something:
To squander or waste:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
To deal with something as if it were of little importance or worth:
To inconsequentially toy with something:
To squander or waste:

Examples

46 sentences

  1. Tom isn't to be trifled with.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Tom is not to be trifled with.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Tom isn't a man to be trifled with.

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Meaning

5 senses

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

    You must not trifle with her affections.

    leichtfertig umgehen, nachlässig umgehen

    игра́тьigrátʹ, шути́тьšutítʹ, не принима́ть всерьёзne prinimátʹ vserʹjóz

  2. (transitive)To squander or waste.

    vergeuden, verschwenden

    тра́титьtrátitʹ, растра́чиватьrastráčivatʹ, расточа́тьrastočátʹ

    waste time; spend one's time idly or inefficiently

  3. (intransitive)To inconsequentially toy with something.

    herumspielen

    тереби́тьterebítʹ

More meanings 2

  1. (intransitive)To act, speak, or otherwise behave with jest.

    прика́лыватьсяprikályvatʹsja

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

Origin

From Middle English trifle, trifel, triful, trefle, truyfle, trufful, from Old French truf

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

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

trifles, trifling, trifled, trifled

regular · Lesson

Base formtrifle · to trifle
3rd person singulartrifles
Present participletrifling
Past simpletrifled
Past participletrifled

Tenses

trifle · trifled · will trifle · have trifled

Point at a form to see it in a sentence.Tap a form to see it in a sentence.

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theytrifle
he, she, ittrifles

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave trifled
he, she, ithas trifled

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill trifle

Past simpleLesson

all personstrifled

Synonyms

9 synonyms
To squander or waste:fritterwanton
To inconsequentially toy with something:fiddleC1
Close in meaning

Word family

3 related words
Relatedtriflingtrifler
Derivedtrifle with

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
tricolourtricycletriertriggerB1trigonometrictrigonometry

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

trifle — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto