frivolous
Silly and not serious, when you really ought to be sensible.
frivolous in a sentence
- Miss Patel sighed at their frivolous questions and asked if anyone had actually read the chapter.
- Spending his whole pocket money on a whoopee cushion seemed frivolous, but Alfie had no regrets.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to frivolous?
- Aserious
- Bsensible
- Cwise
- Dsilly
Show the answer
D: silly. The other three mean the opposite of frivolous.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to frivolous?
- Asilly
- Bserious
- Ctrivial
- Dfoolish
Show the answer
B: serious. The other three mean nearly the same as frivolous.
Words that mean something similar
silly, trivial, foolish
Words that mean the opposite
serious, sensible, wise
More words about behaviour & manners
- frugal: Careful not to waste money or things.
- furtive: Done secretly, hoping nobody will notice.
- gape: To stare at something with your mouth wide open.
- glare: To stare at someone in an angry way; or that angry stare.
- gracious: Kind, polite and pleasant to others.
- grovel: To crawl or beg in an overly humble way to please someone.
- haphazard: Done in a messy way with no plan at all.
- hoard: To collect lots of things and hide them away.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test