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trivial

/ˈtrɪviəl//ˈtrɪviəl/·adjective
of little value or importance; minor
Fig. 1 — A great calm mass sits in the middle of everything, the one thing here that actually matters, and it doesn't move for anyone.
01Definition

Trivial means hardly worth mentioning — small, ordinary, of no real weight. The word has a charming root: the Latin trivium, the 'place where three roads meet', a public crossroads where commonplace, everyday talk happened. So trivial things are crossroads chatter, the opposite of the deep or the decisive. A trivial error is easily fixed; a trivial sum is barely missed. It marks what is the reverse of profound, and never paramount.

02In use
  • iThe two designs differ only in trivial details.
  • iiHe waved the objection aside as trivial and moved on.
  • iiiWhat seems a trivial change to one user can be a serious problem for another.
03Collocations
  • a trivial matter
  • far from trivial
  • trivial details
  • dismiss as trivial

Family triviality (noun) · trivially (adverb) · trivialize (verb)

04Relations

=minor, insignificant, negligible, petty, inconsequential

≠profound, significant, paramount

06TOEFL & IELTS

Useful for precise concession in IELTS Writing — 'these drawbacks are far from trivial' concedes weight, while 'a trivial difference' dismisses it. TOEFL vocabulary items pair it with 'insignificant' or 'minor'. The verb 'trivialize' (to make something serious seem unimportant) is a strong derivative for critical writing. Keep it opposite to 'profound' and 'significant'.

07Asked
What does trivial mean?
Of little importance — small, ordinary, hardly worth mentioning. A trivial error is easily fixed; a trivial sum is barely missed. The word marks the reverse of the deep or the decisive. The scene above draws the judgment: a great calm mass that matters, and a fuss of tiny specks swept off the edge changing nothing — whatever can be wiped away like that was never worth the attention.
Why is it called 'trivial' — what's the link to trivia?
Both come from Latin trivium, 'the place where three roads meet' — a public crossroads where ordinary, everyday talk happened. So trivial things are crossroads chatter, and trivia is exactly that: small, common knowledge of no great weight. The medieval trivium also named the three basic studies (grammar, logic, rhetoric), the elementary ones — another root of 'trivial' meaning commonplace.
What is the difference between trivial and trifling?
Near-synonyms with a shade of difference. Trivial stresses lack of importance — not worth serious attention. Trifling leans toward smallness of amount or value — a trifling sum, a trifling gift. A trivial objection is beside the point; a trifling one is merely tiny. In practice trivial is the far commoner word; trifling sounds a touch old-fashioned and often quantitative.
What does 'trivialize' mean?
To make something serious seem unimportant — to treat a real problem as trivial when it is not. It is a pointed critical verb: 'the report trivializes the risks' accuses the writer of shrinking something grave into something small. Where trivial merely describes, trivialize acts — and usually wrongly, which is why it so often appears as an accusation in argument and review.
What is the opposite of trivial?
Depending on the sense: significant or important when you mean weight, profound when you mean depth, and paramount at the far end, meaning above all others. Trivial and profound make the sharpest pairing — surface chatter against bottomless depth. In an essay, 'far from trivial' is a useful move: it concedes something looks minor, then insists it carries real weight.