bagatelle

Meaning

Noun

1. A trifle; an insubstantial thing.
2. A short piece of literature or of instrumental music, typically light or playful in character.
3. A game similar to billiards played on an oblong table with pockets or arches at one end only.
4. Any of several smaller wooden tabletop games developed from the original bagatelle in which the pockets are made of pins.

Verb

1. To meander or move around, in a manner similar to the ball in the game of bagatelle.
2. To bagatellize; to regard as a bagatelle.

Synonyms

trifle

bauble

fluff

trinket

knick-knack

bar billiards

chicken-feed

frippery

frivolity

thingamajig

kickshaw

nothing

minim

trivium

fiddle-de-dee

inconsequentia

quiddity

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˌbæɡəˈtɛl/

Etymology

Borrowed from French bagatelle, from Italian bagattella.