EN

Synonyms for footling

  • adjective

Most common

petty trivial fiddling niggling

All synonyms

Adjective

1. Petty — trivial, silly and irritating

little, petty, trivial, picayune US, fiddling, niggling, piddling, lilliputian, piffling informal, insignificant, unimportant, trifling, inconsiderable

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    trivial, silly and irritating.

Example sentences

  • petty Sami started getting into trouble for petty theft.
  • trivial The conclusion may seem trivial: Esperanto exists.
  • fiddling They're just fiddling around with that computer.
  • niggling I'm fed up with your constant niggling, Mary.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
footlingsteady
pettysteady
trivialrising
fiddlingrising
nigglingrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

5 letters
petty2
6 letters
little2
7 letters
trivial3
8 letters
fiddling2, trifling2, picayune3, niggling, piddling3, piffling
11 letters
unimportant4, lilliputian4
13 letters
insignificant5
14 letters
inconsiderable

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (petty2 = 2 syllables).