frivolous
pronunciation
How to pronounce frivolous in British English:
UK [ˈfrɪvələs]
How to pronounce frivolous in American English:
US [ˈfrɪvələs]
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- Adjective:
- not serious in content or attitude or behavior
Word Origin
- frivolous (adj.)
- mid-15c., from Latin frivolus "silly, empty, trifling, worthless," diminutive of *frivos "broken, crumbled," from friare "break, rub away, crumble" (see friable). In law (by 1736), "so clearly insufficient as to need no argument to show its weakness." Related: Frivolously; frivolousness.
Example
- 1. They consider reading creative literature as a frivolous and debilitating activity .
- 2. He combined great strategic vision with almost frivolous indifference to detail , a steely moral view of life with shocking prejudice about his fellow citizens .
- 3. In places where " lookism " is already prohibited ( eg , washington , dc ) , such statutes have not provoked a flood of frivolous cases , she says .
- 4. There is a strange pride in the way he teases her about her empty , frivolous days .
- 5. It was not a frivolous lawsuit .