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
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