What does frivolous mean?
Word: Frivolous
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Frivolous means silly and lacking proper thought, or having no useful purpose; also, of a person, enjoying fun when they should be thinking hard.
Synonyms: silly, trivial, flippant, petty
Antonyms: important, sensible
Word origin: Comes from a Latin word meaning silly or worthless.
How do you spell frivolous?
Syllables: friv - o - lous
Tricky part: The vowel after the v is o, so frivilous and frivelous are the usual slips.
Watch out for: frivilous, frivelous
Memory tip: Picture a frivolous yo-yo craze: the vowel after the v is o, as in yo-yo.
Frivolous in a sentence
Example 1: The class laughed at the frivolous idea of holding the meeting on the roof.
Example 2: Spending all your savings on stickers would be rather frivolous.
Example 3: He was frivolous in class but focused on the football field.
Fun Fact
In Latin the plural frivola could mean cheap household odds and ends; the Roman poet Juvenal used it for a poor man's few belongings.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Puzzle
Match each word with its antonym:
1. frivolous 2. hostile 3. vague a. precise b. friendly c. serious
a) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
b) 1-a, 2-b, 3-c
c) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
Show answer
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a. Frivolous means not serious, so serious is its antonym.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the sentence?
My cousin spent his pocket money on a frivolous gadjet that broke within a weak, and now he wants to borow money from me.
a) 1
b) 4
c) 3
d) 2
Show answer
c) 3. Gadget, week and borrow are the three errors; weak is the wrong word for week.
Spell Spies
Choose the misspelt word/s in the given sentence:
Aunt Leela calls my sticker collection a frivolus hobby, but she secretly asks for the shiny ones.
a) frivolus and secretly
b) only frivolus
c) hobby and shiny
d) only collection
Show answer
b) only frivolus. The ending should be lous, with an o before the u; secretly, collection, hobby and shiny are correct.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
Spending the night before an exam on ___ online games is not wise.
a) frivolous
b) essential
c) necessary
d) vital
Show answer
a) frivolous. Essential, vital and necessary games would be worth playing; silly, useless ones are frivolous.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Spending money on frivolous things means buying things that are
a) shared with friends
b) not really needed
c) very important
d) needed for school
Show answer
b) not really needed
2. A frivolous question in a planning meeting would most likely
a) win a prize
b) solve the main problem
c) waste everyone's time
d) end the meeting early
Show answer
c) waste everyone's time
