All 7 Uses of
trifle
in
Great Expectations
- The wretched man trifled with his glass,—took it up, looked at it through the light, put it down,—prolonged my misery.†
Chpt 4 *trifled with = treated thoughtlessly or without respect
- These were agreeably dispersed among small specimens of china and glass, various neat trifles made by the proprietor of the museum, and some tobacco-stoppers carved by the Aged.†
Chpt 25trifles = things of small importance
- After a short pause of repose, Miss Skiffins—in the absence of the little servant who, it seemed, retired to the bosom of her family on Sunday afternoons—washed up the tea-things, in a trifling lady-like amateur manner that compromised none of us.†
Chpt 37
- "If you can cough any trifle on it up, Pip, I'd recommend you to do it," said Joe, all aghast.†
Chpt 2 *
- Probably every new and eagerly expected garment ever put on since clothes came in, fell a trifle short of the wearer's expectation.†
Chpt 19
- By some invisible agency, my guardian wound him up to a pitch little short of ferocity about this trifle; and he fell to baring and spanning his arm to show how muscular it was, and we all fell to baring and spanning our arms in a ridiculous manner.†
Chpt 26
- Maybe I'm a growing a trifle old besides.†
Chpt 54
Definitions:
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(1)
(trifle as in: a trifling matter) something of small importance; or a small quantity
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(2)
(trifle with as in: trifle with her affections) to treat somebody or something thoughtlessly or without respect
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(3)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Less commonly, a trifle can refer to a kind of dessert. In classic literature, trifling can be a synonym for small talk.