A TRIFLE

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does a trifle mean? 

• A TRIFLE (adverb)
  The adverb A TRIFLE has 1 sense:

1. to a small degree; somewhat

  Familiarity information: A TRIFLE used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• A TRIFLE (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

To a small degree; somewhat

Synonyms:

a bit; a little; a trifle

Context example:

a trifle smaller

 Context examples 

Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don’t know why you should be so warm over such a trifle.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“You make too much of a trifle,” said I.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh! I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In fact, toward nightfall of the third day it increased a trifle and something more.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

If I had a good place, and was treated well here, I should beg acceptance of a trifle, instead of taking of it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A trifle, perhaps, she's such a captivating little woman I can't help being proud of her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Lucy frets at the postponement of seeing him, but it does not touch her looks; she is a trifle stouter, and her cheeks are a lovely rose-pink.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He received it with abundance of thanks, more than such a trifle could deserve.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

At the best you are a trifle puzzled and amused that this raw boy, crawling up out of the mire of the abyss, should pass judgment upon your class and call it vulgar.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Yet, as I began to thread the grove that lies before it, I was not so thoughtless but that I slacked my pace and went a trifle warily.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)