All words

frivolous

Meaning

Lacking in seriousness or earnestness; characterized by lightness, playfulness, or insubstantiality.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

He spent all day chasing butterflies and blowing bubbles, a completely frivolous waste of time. His parents wished he'd focus on his chores, but he just laughed, finding their worries too serious for his playful mood.

The siblings argued over who got the sparkly, feather-duster. Their parents sighed, knowing these were the most frivolous fights, completely lacking in any real importance. Soon, they'd be arguing about something else equally silly.

The old woman, her eyes sharp despite her age, watched the children chase each other. Their laughter, so bright and unrestrained, seemed a wholly frivolous pursuit to her. Her own youth had been spent learning the intricate knotwork of fishing nets, a skill demanding focus and not this airy delight.

Barnaby insisted on wearing his disco ball hat to the important meeting, which felt quite frivolous. He was sure his boss appreciated his sparkly, un-serious, playful style, even if it made absolutely no sense. Everyone else wore grey suits.

Barnaby, a hamster with a top hat, spent his days juggling tiny grapes. His owner sighed, calling the grape-tossing a rather frivolous use of his afternoon. While Barnaby believed it a grand art form, the little rodent’s constant pursuit of grape-related silliness was undeniably without any serious purpose.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

Her parents were upset when she spent all her allowance on those silly, glittery stickers, calling her choices utterly frivolous. They wished she'd saved for something useful, not these lighthearted, insubstantial trinkets that brought no real purpose, just fleeting fun.

The toddler’s giggles erupted, a pure sound of joy as he chased a dust mote dancing in the sunlight. His parents watched, their faces softening. It felt so wonderfully frivolous, this moment of unburdened delight, a welcome escape from the weight of their usual anxieties.

The argument over who should have the last, slightly stale, puff pastry was escalating. Maria rolled her eyes, muttering about how utterly frivolous the whole fight was. Honestly, it was a piece of pastry, not the fate of the galaxy, but here they were, arguing with such intensity.

Barnaby's elaborate plan to train squirrels to deliver his mail seemed rather frivolous. His neighbors found it hard to take seriously, especially after one bushy-tailed accomplice tried to pay the postage with an acorn. The entire endeavor felt like a playful, insubstantial prank.

My goldfish, Reginald, insists on wearing tiny, sequined hats to dinner, a truly frivolous display considering his limited brain capacity. He'll push the peas around with his nose, then dramatically yawn, as if bored by the sheer lack of sparkle. It's all quite a show.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

He couldn't understand why she was crying over the spilled milk. It seemed entirely too frivolous a reaction to such a minor inconvenience. Their parents, however, knew how much that carton meant to her, and so they offered comfort instead of reprimand.

Her classmates chattered about their weekend plans, a blur of parties and impulsive road trips. He, however, felt a pang of shame; his parents were expecting him to finalize his dissertation outline tonight. Their laughter, so carefree and frivolous, just emphasized the immense gulf between his current reality and their lighthearted pursuits.

She knew the committee would dismiss her elaborate plans for the annual fungal art exhibit as frivolous, a silly waste of resources on something so insubstantial. But the intricate patterns woven from bioluminescent mold, glowing softly, were serious magic to her.

My cat's relentless pursuit of a rogue dust bunny was utterly frivolous. He'd leap, twist, and tumble with an intensity usually reserved for existential crises, all for something so insubstantial. It was a magnificent display of feline earnestness dedicated to a truly nonsensical quest.

Barry the badger, a connoisseur of exceedingly rare artisanal cheeses, found his latest acquisition, a Gorgonzola aged in a forgotten sock drawer, quite frivolous. Its subtle notes of despair and existential dread, while intriguing, lacked the gravitas he typically sought in his dairy endeavors, proving disappointingly light on profound contemplation.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

The monarch, weary of statecraft and its attendant tribulations, often indulged in frivolous pursuits. While his advisors fretted over matters of import, he’d be found orchestrating elaborate, pointless masquerades or devising absurd, ephemeral pranks, a king utterly unburdened by earnest concern.

Her sister's complaints about a tarnished teacup seemed utterly frivolous given the encroaching blight on their fungal farm. While the world teetered on famine, her brother's insistence on a more elaborate ceremonial cap for the harvest festival struck her as profoundly unserious and insubstantial.

The apprentice artisan, perpetually distracted by the iridescent shimmer of beetle wings and the imagined symphonies of wind chimes, found her meticulously prepared alabaster gargoyle project utterly neglected. Her supervisor, a man accustomed to the austere dedication required for ancient art restoration, sighed at her frivolous pursuit of fleeting, inconsequential beauty.

The duke's lamentations over a misplaced monocle seemed remarkably frivolous, considering the kingdom teetered on the precipice of a goblin incursion. His pronouncements, bereft of any palpable urgency, were more akin to a capricious zephyr than a commander's bulwark, leaving his advisors agape at his insubstantial concerns.

Bartholomew, a connoisseur of comestibles, found his meticulous cataloging of artisanal cheeses interrupted by the advent of a wholly frivolous pastry – a gilded macaron filled with essence of fermented narwhal snot. He deemed its levity utterly anathema to his somber gustatory pursuits, a saccharine affront to his profound epiphanies regarding *roquefort*.

Difficulty

Normal — Everyday words worth reinforcing.

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