frivolous

English

WOTD – 11 April 2010

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

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

frivolous (comparative more frivolous, superlative most frivolous)

1. Silly, especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner.
2. Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight; trivial.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insignificant

3. (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^[1]:

     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^[2]:

     One of the major cost drivers in the delivery of health care are these junk and frivolous lawsuits.

Derived terms

• frivolent
• frivolously
• frivolousness

Related terms

• frivol
• frivolity

Translations

silly; especially at an inappropriate time or in an inappropriate manner

• Afrikaans: ligsinnig
• Arabic:

  Egyptian Arabic: جهلان‎ (gahlān)

• Armenian: թեթևամիտ (hy) (tʿetʿewamit)
• 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
• 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)

of little weight or importance; not worth notice

• Armenian: չնչին (hy) (čʿnčʿin), 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)

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.