frivolity

Instead, like a still condensing sugar-saturated slop into a refined liquor, this downsizing concentrates the force of his images, shifting the mood from one of frivolity to seriousness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026

This is what political scientists call "tactical frivolity".

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025

Pirates of the Caribbean shows the ways in which greed and gluttony turn us into caricatures, while the Haunted Mansion finds frivolity in the afterlife, reminding us to enjoy our time while we’re here.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025

It’s been a tough morning on all of us, her supervisor sighs, “and I thought a little frivolity would be just what the doctor ordered.”

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2025

It spoke to Lefty of jazz-age frivolity, gin cocktails, cigarette girls; it made him slick his hair back with panache . . . while, out in the yard, Desdemona heard the singing and reacted differently.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

Presumably, both sexes have been players in such nightclub frivolities as “helium balloon singalongs, psychedelic projections and nursery-style games with building blocks”—amusements that were popular in the 1960s at Cerebrum, a club in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

The navy did not want its midshipmen wasting their time on such frivolities.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025

In 1431, the ecumenical Council of Basel ordered the deans and rectors of churches to expel "frivolities" and "profane abuses" from holy buildings, but implicitly allowed them to take place in the squares outside.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024

Yet it’s often the case — now as then — that expressions of personal style among serious people are deemed frivolities.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2023

He had become famous as a sophist and rhetorician, skilled in the laborious frivolities of the profession.

From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 1 of 2) by William Edward Hartpole Lecky