Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being frivolous or trifling; want of importance.
  • noun Synonyms See frivolity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The quality of being frivolous; frivolity
  • noun countable The result of being frivolous

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the trait of being frivolous; not serious or sensible

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

frivolous +‎ -ness

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Examples

  • His chimeric fancy carries him here into a kind of frivolousness, as if he felt almost too safe with his public, and were himself not quite serious, or dealing fairly with it; and in a writer such as Browne levity must of necessity be a little ponderous.

    Appreciations, with an Essay on Style Walter Pater 1866

  • (“Attempting to highlight the ‘frivolousness’ nature of our femininity, or portraying trans women as having derogatory feminine-associated character traits such as being weak, confused, passive, or mousy”).

    Kim Petras 2009

  • Her glances will tire out the other women, she will see in them, like in a mirror, her own indecency, her very frivolousness will turn her away from any unhealthy competition with men.

    Global Voices in English » In France, Sudan, Burqas and Trousers Cause Controversy 2009

  • The freeform page layouts found in shojo might have added an element of frivolousness to this quiet and personal story.

    The Girl Who Runs Through Time » Manga Worth Reading 2010

  • Ridiculing the frivolousness of the press amused him almost as much as the behavior itself frustrated him.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • Ridiculing the frivolousness of the press amused him almost as much as the behavior itself frustrated him.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • Ridiculing the frivolousness of the press amused him almost as much as the behavior itself frustrated him.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • Ridiculing the frivolousness of the press amused him almost as much as the behavior itself frustrated him.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

  • Iowans are a practical people and maybe invented ones; his lack of frivolousness and petty knife-grinding will be with them on caucus day.

    GOP presidential debate in Iowa: as it happened 2011

  • Ridiculing the frivolousness of the press amused him almost as much as the behavior itself frustrated him.

    O: A Presidential Novel Anonymous 2011

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