All 4 Uses of
trifle
in
Common Sense, by Thomas Paine
- But as the colony increases, the public concerns will increase likewise, and the distance at which the members may be separated, will render it too inconvenient for all of them to meet on every occasion as at first, when their number was small, their habitations near, and the public concerns few and trifling.†
Chpt 1. *
- It is from our enemies that we often gain excellent maxims, and are frequently surprised into reason by their mistakes, Mr. Cornwall (one of the Lords of the Treasury) treated the petition of the New-York Assembly with contempt, because THAT House, he said, consisted but of twenty-six members, which trifling number, he argued, could not with decency be put for the whole.†
Chpt 4.
- The object, on either side, doth not justify the means; for the lives of men are too valuable to be cast away on such trifles.†
Chpt Appetrifles = things of small importance
- The Reflexion is awful—and in this point of view, How trifling, how ridiculous, do the little, paltry cavillings, of a few weak or interested men appear, when weighed against the business of a world.†
Chpt Appe
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.