Literary notes about piffling (AI summary)
In literary texts, the adjective "piffling" is frequently employed to dismiss or belittle an object, action, or person as trivial and unimportant. Writers often use it to undermine the weight of a situation or to contrast it with something of greater significance, as when a character derides others as "piffling" in both social and personal contexts ([1], [2]). The term appears in descriptions of seemingly minor affairs—from a "piffling wedding affair" to a "piffling little Gizeh pyramid"—serving to highlight the insignificant nature of what is under scrutiny ([3], [4]). Sometimes, it even becomes a metalinguistic comment on the trivial subjects discussed in broader social or educational commentary, reinforcing its role as a concise indicator of what is considered utterly inconsequential ([5], [6]).
- [32] "Tell you what I'll do, you piffling Greeks, I'll blow you all off to a top-hole dinner at the Inn if Claflin beats us.
— from Left Guard Gilbert by Ralph Henry Barbour - "You heard what I said about piffling human beings?"
— from The Lookout Man by B. M. Bower - “Are you keen on this piffling wedding affair?”
— from Just William by Richmal Crompton - [Pg 71] This was no piffling little Gizeh pyramid, no simple tomb for a king.
— from The Sky Is Falling by Lester Del Rey - piddling , a. trifling , inconsiderable, insignificant , piffling , inconsequential.
— from Putnam's Word Book A Practical Aid in Expressing Ideas Through the Use of an Exact and Varied Vocabulary by Louis A. (Louis Andrew) Flemming - trifling , n. piddling , frivolity, piffle , dalliance , quibbling , piffling .
— from Putnam's Word Book A Practical Aid in Expressing Ideas Through the Use of an Exact and Varied Vocabulary by Louis A. (Louis Andrew) Flemming
