a trifle en · ADV
Meanings
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(not-comparable) A little, slightly.
Commander Birch was a trifle uneasy when he found there was more than a popple on the sea; it was, in fact, distinctly choppy. Strictly speaking, he ought to have been following up the picket–boat, but he was satisfied that the circumstances were sufficiently urgent for him to take risks.
1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 17, in Well Tackled!:2006, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Wizard of the Crow, New York: Knopf Doubleday, Book 3, p. 411, “Let’s get on with it,” Sikiokuu replied, a trifle impatiently.
I know it's out of fashion / And a trifle uncool / But I can't help it / I'm a romantic fool
1980, Mark Gane, “Echo Beach”, performed by Martha and the Muffins:He contemplated the large well-proportioned letters and final flourish, with his head a trifle on one side for an instant […]
1871–1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter 23, in Middlemarch […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book III:Could you lend me some money? I'm a trifle short of what I need to pay the rent.
"[…
1916, James Branch Cabell, The Certain Hour:He stared at the chart. “Maybe we’ll move away towards the west a trifle, and come down on Fiji from the north.”
1957, Nevil Shute [pseudonym; Nevil Shute Norway], On the Beach, London: William Heinemann:
Synonyms
barely · scarcely · somewhat · low-key · a trifle · kinda sorta · kinda · sorta · imperceptibly · a touch · closely · faintly · a smidgen · a bit · a little bit · slightly · hardly · a smidgeon · just · mildly · a mite · marginally · a tad · a little · a bit · nearly · kind of · modestly · only just · sort of · sorta kinda
Translations (1)
eo iomete (slightly)