different between trifling vs lesser

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t?a?fli?/

Adjective

trifling (comparative more trifling, superlative most trifling)

1. Trivial, or of little importance.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 234a.

     […] it doesn't take him long to make any of them, and he sells them for some trifling sum of money.

2. Idle or frivolous.
3. (African-American Vernacular) Of suspicious character, typically secretive or deceitful; shady.
   • 2001, Glenda Howard, Cita's World

     My hand was aching to slap that silly heifer. I told her to take her trifling ass down to Burger King and get herself a job flipping burgers […]

Synonyms

• trivial
• inconsequential
• petty
• See also Thesaurus:insignificant

Related terms

• trifle

Translations

Noun

trifling (plural triflings)

1. The act of one who trifles; frivolous behaviour.
   • 1845, George Croly, Samuel Warren, Marston, or the Memoirs of a Statesman

     He writes on the principle, of course, that in one's dotage we are privileged to return to the triflings of our infancy, and that Downing Street cannot be better employed in these days than as a chapel of ease to Eton.

Translations

Verb

trifling

1. present participle of trifle

Anagrams

• filtring, flirting

English

Etymology

less +? -er

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?l?s?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?l?s?/
• Rhymes: -?s?(?)
• Hyphenation: less?er

Adjective

lesser

1. comparative form of little: more little
2. Of two (or, rarely, more than two) things: the smaller in size (littler), in value, in importance etc.

   Antonym: greater

   lesser panda, lesser yellowlegs

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

lesser (plural lessers)

1. a thing that is of smaller size, value, importance etc.

   the lesser of two evils

   The greater sand hills increasingly do not migrate, but almost all lessers do.

Related terms

• less
• lesser of two evils
• fewer

Translations

Anagrams

• Elsers, Eslers, resels, sleers

Old French

Verb

lesser

1. Alternative form of laissier

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-sss, *-sst are modified to s, s, st. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.