as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
raised one final, piddling objection to the plan
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Recent Examples of piddling
Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020
Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling.
—Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
What’s particularly baffling is that Syria now produces a piddling amount of oil—about as much as Utah.
—Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2019
That will make the current economic uncertainty look piddling.
—Daniel W. Drezner, Twin Cities, 15 Aug. 2019
In the battle for mind share, in the Trumpian quest to be part of every conversation, the Pixel far outweighs its piddling sales.
—Vlad Savov, The Verge, 16 Oct. 2018
Of those, only four rather piddling victories went the liberals’ way.
—The Economist, 30 June 2018
Learning about other runners' struggles and triumphs helps put my piddling run into a bigger narrative, often allowing me to see myself differently within another story.
—Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 21 June 2018
How to: Improve the Wi-Fi reception in your home
The most-improved was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which went from a piddling 2.68 Mbps download speed in 2017 to 59.62 Mbps this year.
—Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, 12 June 2018
Adjective
Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.
—Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020
Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling.
—Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
What’s particularly baffling is that Syria now produces a piddling amount of oil—about as much as Utah.
—Robin Wright, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2019
That will make the current economic uncertainty look piddling.
—Daniel W. Drezner, Twin Cities, 15 Aug. 2019
In the battle for mind share, in the Trumpian quest to be part of every conversation, the Pixel far outweighs its piddling sales.
—Vlad Savov, The Verge, 16 Oct. 2018
Of those, only four rather piddling victories went the liberals’ way.
—The Economist, 30 June 2018
Learning about other runners' struggles and triumphs helps put my piddling run into a bigger narrative, often allowing me to see myself differently within another story.
—Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 21 June 2018
How to: Improve the Wi-Fi reception in your home
The most-improved was Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which went from a piddling 2.68 Mbps download speed in 2017 to 59.62 Mbps this year.
—Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle, 12 June 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piddling
Adjective
-
For adults, the service would be available for a nominal fee.—
Federico Guerrini,
Forbes.com,
2 Apr. 2025
-
These games will be purchasable standalone on the eShop and presumably at retail, or upgraded to for a nominal fee for existing owners of the game, much like how the PS5 handles its cross-gen upgrades.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
International museums in 2024 collectively experienced a slight dip in attendance that marks a return to normalcy in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, the Art Newspaper reports.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
1 Apr. 2025
-
Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, was the highest grossing show on Broadway again last week, even as its grosses took a slight dip.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Known for: Its tiny colorful bags, like Le Bisou, Mini Chiquito, and Bambino.—
Jake Henry Smith,
Glamour,
10 Apr. 2025
-
In countries such as Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Cameroon and the tiny Polynesian island nation of Niue, SpaceX has sold Starlink services to the public before receiving the necessary licenses, angering regulatory officials.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Mixed in with small pleasures and petty disputes with her older sister are true feats of survival and bravery.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
22 Mar. 2025
-
Gangs stop petty thievery in their own neighborhoods.—
Walter E Block,
Orange County Register,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The biggest reason: New York’s discovery law allows cases to be dismissed even for trivial, fixable discovery violations.—
Jane Manning,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2025
-
If anything, becoming a weird little guy, by my definition, is about rejecting the despair that leads down those kinds of regressive paths, and daring to care about something, even — and perhaps especially — if that something might seem kind of dumb or trivial to the outside world.—
James Factora,
Them.,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Liverpool are regularly seeing apps that replicate the appearance of genuine tickets — fooling not just first-time visitors to Anfield.—
James Pearce,
The Athletic,
2 Jan. 2025
-
The ultimate aim is, with the use of multiple layers of such transformations, fooling malware classifiers into thinking malicious code is, in fact, totally benign.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes,
24 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
With that much water needed for even the most trifling tasks, the natural question becomes: How does that water reach those data centers, let alone the world’s farms and factories?—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
28 May 2010
-
And yet the movie’s insularity feels trifling and empty.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Feb. 2024
Verb
-
The loud ticking sound when my car is idling.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Dec. 2024
-
My heartbeat pounded in my ears, drowning out the anticipatory purr of two ambulance engines idling nearby.—
Daphne Ewing-Chow,
Forbes,
23 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Piddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piddling. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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