[f. as prec. + -ING2.]
† 1. Cheating, befooling, false, feigning. Obs.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 1683. Ȝe do bott trayne vs to daye wyth trofelande wordez!
1547. Bk. Marchantes, e vj. Was there no suche folysh fayned triflyng deceite in England.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. IV., 17. The kyng gaue many friuolus and trifelyng aunswers.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 37 b. So trifelynge & wicked a doctrine should haue bene dispised of all men.
2. Behaving idly or frivolously; not serious; frivolous; foolish.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Tim. v. 13. Not onely are they ydell but also tryflinge & busybodies speakynge thinges which are not comly.
1659. Gentl. Calling (1696), 92. Shall more and baser be sought out, every the triflingest and vilest Entertainment?
1703. Rowe, Ulyss., IV. i. Oh trifling, idle Talker.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 109, ¶ 4. The trifling Way the Women have in spending their Time, and gratifying only their Eyes and Ears.
1885. Athenæum, 23 May, 661/1. The perverse intrusion of trifling thoughts at agonizing moments.
3. Of little moment or value; paltry, trumpery; insignificant, petty.
1538. Starkey, England, I. iii. 94. Delycate wynys, fyne clothys,… and a thousand such tryfelyng thyngys.
1645. Evelyn, Diary, 25 Jan. The worke of 10 years study for a trifling reward.
1659. Gentl. Calling (1660), 139. [One] that for every the triflingest injury expects … to be avenged seventy and seven fold.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1754), 8. Those were trifling Things to what followed immediately after.
1814. Rep. Comm. Publ. Rec. Irel. (1815), 75. To receive some trifling sum by way of Fee.
1869. Freeman, Norm. Conq., III. xi. 66. The danger … was comparatively trifling.
