trifle

The game badly misses Alcaraz—“Tennis needs him,” Sinner said Sunday—but no tennis player should trifle with a bad wrist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

"I have noticed that there have been cars parked on the side of the road and it creates congestion which does seem a trifle bit weird and annoying," said visitor Philip Johnson.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

Still, it is the frolicsome rapport between the two stars that gives this comic trifle of a play its allure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026

Joey and Ross are trying to rush through dinner to attend a party held by their “hot” roommate, which involves shoveling down Rachel’s trifle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025

The woman who emerged was a trifle thinner, a great deal wiser, an ocean sadder.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

She’s interested in adding regular savories such as pasties and sausage rolls, and maybe bringing new treats such as trifles or Eton Messes to her roster.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024

Unlike dogs, which are sometimes cruelly inbred to select for traits, warty pumpkins are merely briefly-held autumn trifles — even when a lot of biological science underlies their appearance.

From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2022

Other, seemingly familiar terms — romper room, sherry trifles — have their innocence stripped from them to reveal a second, more sinister meaning.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2022

The Ray Anthony Orchestra was a prolific ensemble, releasing countless dance singles in the early 1950s, including “The Hokey Pokey” and “The Bunny Hop” — swinging trifles that captured a national audience almost immediately.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2022

“He trifles here,” said he, “as to the temptation. He knows he is wrong, and has nothing rational to urge.—Bad.—He ought not to have formed the engagement.—‘His father’s disposition:’—he is unjust, however, to his father.

From "Emma" by Jane Austen

Still, it “proves what the Chinese and everyone else are saying—these are capable things and they are not to be trifled with,” said Brendan Mulvaney, director of the China Aerospace Studies Institute, a U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 22, 2025

He was not one to be trifled with.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 30, 2023

Sleep is not to be trifled with; there is nothing low-stakes about it.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 16, 2023

"Uncle Harlo's influence is not a thing to be trifled with. He's done us a tremendous favor. You need to remember you're not just representing yourself today."

From Salon ● Nov. 28, 2022

"And take care not to insult her, now. Like Bronden, she is not a woman to be trifled with."

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

The current bout of softness is trifling compared with a complete halt in sailings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

The traffic cone guys weren't letting such trifling issues dampen their day.

From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026

But it’s the songs that talk about brushing off stifling, trifling men, including the title track and “What Have You Done For Me Lately,” that have the most staying power.

From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2026

Whatever the cause, it is not some trifling oversight; this blunder undermined Ziegler’s most important legal rejoinder to the majority.

From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2025

The work they had done that morning was trifling and all they had to show for it was rough shelter and little comfort.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams