bagatelle

noun

bag·​a·​telle ˌba-gə-ˈtel 

1

: trifle sense 1

2

: any of various games involving the rolling of balls into scoring areas

3

: a short literary or musical piece in light style

Synonyms

• child's play
• frippery
• nonproblem
• nothing
• picayune
• shuck(s)
• small beer
• small change
• trifle
• triviality

Examples of bagatelle in a Sentence

the question of who will pick up the coffee is a mere bagatelle in the overall planning of the conference

Recent Examples on the Web

Pinball is back Pinball got its start in 18th-century France with the billiardslike tabletop game bagatelle, which used a springlike launcher. —San Antonio Express-News, 5 Mar. 2020

Overall this novel is an entertaining bagatelle, told by a proficient storyteller in an engaging way. —David Shribman, BostonGlobe.com, 22 Aug. 2019

Lewis kept the scope of emotion in the first bagatelle more along the lines of concerned. —Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 11 May 2018

As far as performance marathons go, the 10 hours of John Zorn’s bagatelles on Saturday at National Sawdust in Brooklyn may not have been the most sprawling. —Zachary Woolfe, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2016

Word History

Etymology

French, from Italian bagattella

First Known Use

1633, in the meaning defined at sense 1