trivial
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
not important or not worth worrying about.
of little value or importance; insignificant in the context of a larger discussion or problem.
Simple“They argued over a trivial mistake that didn't really change the final result.”
In context“The committee spent hours debating trivial details of the budget while ignoring the massive deficit in the primary accounts.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
very easy to do or understand.
so easy or obvious that it requires little thought to resolve.
Simple“For an expert like him, fixing the computer was a trivial task.”
In context“The solution to the first puzzle was trivial, but the subsequent challenges required advanced lateral thinking skills.”
- 03 C1 Advanced
describing a very simple case, like the number zero, that is always true but not very interesting.
relating to the simplest possible case of a mathematical structure, such as a solution where all variables are zero.
Simple“The equation has a trivial solution where x equals zero.”
In context“While the trivial solution is mathematically valid, the researchers were interested in finding non-zero values that satisfied the theorem.”
UsageOften used to describe a solution that is technically correct but provides no useful information.
SynonymsAntonymsnon trivial - 04 C2 Proficiency
relating to the specific name of a plant or animal species.
designating the specific name of a species as opposed to its broader genus.
Simple“In the name Homo sapiens, 'sapiens' is the trivial name.”
In context“The scientist noted that the trivial name of the specimen had been changed several times since its initial discovery in the nineteenth century.”
PIE word *tréyes * From Latin triviālis (“appropriate to the street-corner, commonplace, vulgar”), from trivium (“place where three roads meet”). Compare trivium, trivia. * From the distinction between trivium (“the lower division of the liberal arts; grammar, logic and rhetoric”) and quadrivium (“the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.