English → Latin
“frivolous” in Latin
frīvolussilly, empty, trifling, frivolous, worthlessvānusvain, empty, vacant, void; unsubstantial; groundless, baseless, meaningless, pointless, worthless, ineffectual, mindlessinānisempty, void, hollow; vain; purposeless, meaningless, worthless, useless, fruitless, empty, idleparvussmall; little; puny; cheap; petty; trifling; ignorable; unimportantminuōto make smaller, lessen, diminish, reduce, minimize; to attenuate, appease, suppress, repress, quell; to dismember, tearīnfirmusweak, feeble; unhealthy, infirm, indisposed, sick; inconclusivelevislight, not heavy; easy to digest; quick, swift, fleet, nimble, rapidfūtilisthat easily pours out; that can not contain, leaky; untrustworthy, vain, worthless, futile, frivolousvīlischeap, inexpensive; base, vile, mean, worthless, cheap, paltry
The English word frivolous itself goes back to Latin frīvolus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
frivolous
frivolus (Auct., ad Her., ; not Cic.): vanus (vain, that cannot be depended upon): inanis (without value, empty or void of thought): non sufficiens: non satis idoneus: parum idoneus (not sufficient or adequate to the case): parvus (small): minutus (insignificant): infirmus (weak). (The words are found in this connection and order.) inanis et infirmus (of arguments, etc.): levis (light, not sterling; without worth): futilis (not tenable; e.g., opinion, sententia): vilis (worthless): Cic. connects vanus, futilis; vanus, levis, futilis (of persons): Frivolous talk, verba inania; voces inanes; sermo inanis; sermo vanus: so frivolous, tantulus (so trifling; e.g., matters, res; Vid: Caes., B.G., 4, 22): frivolous pretexts, falsae causae: to ask frivolous questions, res minutas quaerere; minutas interrogationes proponere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for frivolous?
- The usual Latin words for “frivolous” are frīvolus, vānus, inānis; also parvus, minuō, īnfirmus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.