Etymology
From Latin frīvolus (“silly, empty, trifling, frivolous, worthless”), with the ending modified to match -ous.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɹɪv.əl.əs/
- Hyphenation: friv‧o‧lous
Adjective
frivolous (comparative more frivolous, superlative most frivolous)
- Silly, especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner; lacking a good reason for being, or for doing what one does; due to or moved by a whim or caprice.
- Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight; trivial.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insignificant
- (law, said of a lawsuit) Having no reasonable prospect of success because its claim is without merit, lacking a supporting legal or factual basis, while the filing party is, or should be, aware of this.
1996 August 31, Paul F. Waldner, President-Elect, Houston Trial Lawyers Association, “Viewpoints”, in Houston Chronicle:There is no easy definition for the phrase 'frivolous lawsuit,' but I imagine any claim for damages where the injuries are minimal or where the basis for the defendant's liability is hard to believe, might qualify as frivolous.
- 2005, Factcheck.org:
- One of the major cost drivers in the delivery of health care are these junk and frivolous lawsuits.
Translations
silly; especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner
- Afrikaans: ligsinnig
- Arabic:
- Egyptian Arabic: جهلان (gahlān)
- Armenian: թեթևամիտ (hy) (tʻetʻewamit)
- Bulgarian: лекомислен (bg) (lekomislen), несериозен (bg) (neseriozen), повърхностен (bg) (povǎrhnosten)
- Catalan: frívol (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 輕狂/轻狂 (zh) (qīngkuáng)
- Dutch: frivool (nl), lichtzinnig (nl), wuft (nl)
- Esperanto: vanta, facilanima
- Finnish: naurettava (fi), typerä (fi), idioottimainen (fi), kevytmielinen, hölmö (fi)
- French: frivole (fr)
- Galician: frívolo
- Georgian: არასერიოზული (araseriozuli), დაუფიქრებელი (daupikrebeli), ფუქსავატი (puksavaṭi)
- German: albern (de); leichtfertig (de); flatterhaft (de); (note that frivol has a sexual connotation)
- Greek: επιπόλαιος (el) (epipólaios), ελαφρός (el) (elafrós)
- Ancient: ῥᾴθυμος (rhā́ithumos)
- Ido: frivola (io)
- Italian: frivolo (it)
- Latin: frīvolus
- Latvian: vieglprātīgs, viegls
- Macedonian: несерио́зен (neseriózen), леко́мислен (lekómislen), по́вршен (póvršen)
- Malay: semberono, sambil lewa
- Maori: ngahangaha, ngākau pāpaku
- Norwegian: frivol (no)
- Polish: bezmyślny (pl)
- Portuguese: frívolo (pt)
- Russian: несерьезный (ru) (neserʹjeznyj), легкомысленный (ru) (lexkomyslennyj); ветреный (ru) (vetrenyj); пове́рхностный (ru) (povérxnostnyj)
- Scottish Gaelic: faoin
- Spanish: frívolo (es)
- Swedish: frivol (sv)
- Turkish: hoppa (tr), salak (tr)
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of little weight or importance; not worth notice
- Armenian: չնչին (hy) (čʻnčʻin), դատարկ (hy) (datark)
- Catalan: frívol (ca), tonto (ca), trivial (ca)
- Finnish: mitätön (fi), jonninjoutava (fi)
- French: bagatelle (fr), bricole (fr)
- Georgian: უმნიშვნელო (umnišvnelo)
- Greek: ελαφρός (el) (elafrós)
- Latin: frīvolus
- Macedonian: незначи́телен (neznačítelen), не́важен (névažen)
- Malay: remeh-temeh
- Maori: hangahanga, ngākau pāpaku, aweke, ngahangaha, tihitihi, hauarea
- Polish: błahy (pl)
- Portuguese: frívolo (pt)
- Russian: незначи́тельный (ru) (neznačítelʹnyj), нева́жный (ru) (nevážnyj), пустяковый (ru) (pustjakovyj)
- Scottish Gaelic: faoin
- Spanish: frívolo (es), banal (es), nimio (es), trivial (es)
- Turkish: boş (tr), önemsiz (tr), havai (tr)
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Further reading
- “frivolous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “frivolous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.