Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The quality or condition of being frivolous.
- noun A frivolous act or thing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The condition or quality of being frivolous or trifling; insignificance.
- noun The act or habit of trifling; unbecoming levity of mind or disposition.
- noun Synonyms Lightness, Volatility, etc. (see
levity ) ; triviality, puerility, trifling. Frivolity, Frivolousness. Frivolity of character or conduct; frivolousness of an excuse, a pretext, an argument.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The condition or quality of being frivolous; also, acts or habits of trifling; unbecoming levity of disposition.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
frivolous act - noun state of being
frivolous
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun acting like a clown or buffoon
- noun something of little value or significance
- noun the trait of being frivolous; not serious or sensible
Etymologies
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Examples
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CherriesCherries bring with them a certain frivolity, a carefree joy like hearing the far-off laughter of a child at play.
Tender delights Nigel Slater 2010
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If women did not waste life in frivolity, men would not waste it in murder.
Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910 Maud Howe Elliott 1915
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It profitably occupies that time which, if wasted in frivolity and indulgence, leads to the worst consequences; and in teaching others, a double blessing often descends upon the teacher.
Memoirs, Correspondence and Poetical Remains of Jane Taylor 1832
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(The apotheosis of serious newspaper doing frivolity is the FT’s ‘How To Spend It’, of course.)
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I protest to the fact that anyone who has a problem with so much money gone to frivolity is deemed a terrorist by an arrogant politician who has no clue what it’s like tobe underprivileged.
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“You may call it frivolity, but it is indeed a festival.”
The Year of Living Scandalously Julia London 2010
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“You may call it frivolity, but it is indeed a festival.”
The Year of Living Scandalously Julia London 2010
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In the other characters she was the true French girl, full of grace and a mixture of _naïveté_ and cunning, sentiment and frivolity, that is winning and _piquant_, if not satisfying.
At Home And Abroad Or, Things And Thoughts In America and Europe Margaret Fuller 1830
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Amid all the frivolity were the building blocks of a good debate about taxes, public services and the media's long love affair with the alliance's research reports.
unknown title 2009
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Amid all the frivolity were the building blocks of a good debate about taxes, public services and the media's long love affair with the alliance's research reports.
unknown title 2009
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The clowns use “tactical frivolity” as a nonviolent means to combat xenophobia and intimidation.
Send in the Clowns: Opposing Anti-Migrant Citizen Patrols in Finland - Political Violence at a Glance politicalviolenceataglance 2021
alasophia commented on the word frivolity
“We and our guests will gather in the main hall for a night of well-mannered frivolity.�? - Professor McGonagall, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
June 17, 2008
shanvrolijk commented on the word frivolity
"Here he anatomizes his worst traits: laziness, nostalgia, gluttony, hypochondria, some essential frivolity of mind that means his writing will always be summed up as “‘brilliant’ – that is, not worth doing”."
Source: The times Literary supplement
January 22, 2018