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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piddling
Adjective
-
Los Angeles stretches its NL West lead to 11 games and maintains MLB’s best record as Ohtani’s star power turns Sacramento’s nominal home crowd into a roaring Dodgers road show.
-
The model produces outputs within nominal parameters, but those outputs reflect market conditions that are seconds or minutes stale.
Verb
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But that still left the less-than-trifling matter of the second tier’s title to settle, as the teams were locked together on 97 points with one game still to play.
-
The rise may seem trifling, but staffers work long hours, and a caffeine budget is a necessity.
Adjective
-
In 2024, roughly 48,800 Americans died by suicide, a slight decrease from the peak of nearly 49,500 deaths in this manner in 2022.
-
Matching trousers stayed narrow through the hips before loosening down the leg into a slight flare.
Verb
-
There was something a little therapeutic about messing it up.
-
No one can match her depth and passion to get vengeance on Krem of the Yellow Hills for messing with her family — a sentiment Cancers understand.
Adjective
-
Even tiny electromagnetic disturbances can disrupt the quantum states that perform calculations, reducing the accuracy and reliability of the system.
-
What Uranus will look like Uranus should resemble a tiny greenish star and will appear only about 1/63 as bright as Mars.
Verb
-
But Ehlers has given Carolina a newfound level of offensive depth, especially given he’s meshed surprisingly well with Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook, two veteran checkers who have been mucking and grinding for years on a team that does that better than anyone.
-
In retirement, he’s gone back to that childhood, mucking the stalls and helping care for a menagerie that includes two horses, 10 mini goats, two mini pigs, a pair of horses and a bunch of chickens and dogs and cats.
Adjective
-
The killing has drawn comparisons to other instances of other Black people who lost their life in cases of accusations of petty criminal offenses, such as the murder of George Floyd.
-
Some were petty — like Reese committing a foul against Clark, then jerking her head back, impersonating Clark as a flopper.
Verb
-
Speaking on Harvard Business School’s The Founder Mindset podcast, hosted by senior lecturer and serial entrepreneur Reza Satchu, the Shark Tank investor argued that anyone trying to balance a young company against the rest of their life is fooling themselves.
-
The other is fooling humans, particularly the dwindling number of journalists, critics, and other gatekeepers who are still capable of conferring legitimacy by paying attention.
Cite this Entry
“Piddling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piddling. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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