Adjacent Words

Frivolous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FRIV'OLOUS, a. [L. frivlus, from the root of frio, to break into small pieces, to crumble; tero, trivi, to rub or wear out.]
Slight; trifling; trivial; of little weight, worth or importance; not worth notice; as a frivolous argument; a frivolous objection or pretext.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: not serious in content or attitude or behavior; "a frivolous novel"; "a frivolous remark"; "a frivolous young woman" [ant: serious]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin frivolus Date: 15th century 1. a. of little weight or importance b. having no sound basis (as in fact or law) <a frivolous lawsuit> 2. a. lacking in seriousness b. marked by unbecoming levity • frivolously adverb • frivolousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 paltry, trifling, trumpery. 2 lacking seriousness; given to trifling; silly. Derivatives: frivolity n. (pl. -ies). frivolously adv. frivolousness n. Etymology: L frivolus silly, trifling

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Frivolous Friv"o*lous, a. [L. frivolus; prob. akin to friare to rub, crumble, E. friable: cf. F. frivole.] 1. Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight; as, a frivolous argument. --Swift. 2. Given to trifling; marked with unbecoming levity; silly; interested especially in trifling matters. His personal tastes were low and frivolous. --Macaulay. Syn: Trifling; trivial; slight; petty; worthless. -- Friv"o*lous*ly, adv. -- Friv"o*lous*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe someone as frivolous, you mean they behave in a silly or light-hearted way, rather than being serious and sensible. I just decided I was a bit too frivolous to be a doctor... ADJ 2. If you describe an activity as frivolous, you disapprove of it because it is not useful and wastes time or money. The group says it wants politicians to stop wasting public money on what it believes are frivolous projects. ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Trifling, trivial, worthless, light, petty, flimsy, idle, puerile, childish, trashy, foolish.

Moby Thesaurus

aimless, airy, amorphous, asinine, birdbrained, birdwitted, brainless, buxom, capricious, casual, catchpenny, childish, desultory, disarticulated, discontinuous, disjunct, disordered, dispersed, disproportionate, dizzy, empty, empty-headed, erratic, fatuous, featherbrained, featherheaded, fitful, flighty, flimsy, flip, flippant, fluffy, fluttery, foolish, formless, fribble, fribbling, frothy, futile, gaga, giddy, giddy-brained, giddy-headed, giddy-pated, giddy-witted, gleeful, gratuitous, haphazard, harebrain, harebrained, hilarious, hit-or-miss, idle, immethodical, inane, inchoate, incoherent, inconsequential, indiscriminate, insignificant, irregular, irresponsible, jocular, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, laughter-loving, light, meaningless, merry, minor, mirth-loving, mirthful, misshapen, niggling, nonsymmetrical, nonsystematic, nonuniform, nugacious, nugatory, orderless, otiose, paltry, peripheral, petty, planless, playful, promiscuous, puerile, random, rattlebrained, rattleheaded, rattlepated, rejoicing, risible, scatterbrained, scramblebrained, senseless, shallow, shallow-headed, shallow-minded, shallow-pated, shallow-witted, shapeless, shatterbrained, silly, slender, slight, small-time, spasmodic, sporadic, straggling, straggly, superficial, systemless, thoughtless, trifling, trite, trivial, two-bit, twopenny, unarranged, unclassified, undirected, ungraded, unimportant, unjoined, unmethodical, unordered, unorganized, unprofound, unsorted, unsymmetrical, unsystematic, ununiform, vacuous, vague, vain, vapid, volatile, wandering, windy, witless, worthless