as in nonsense
language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense the belief that soda is made out of acid is just piffle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to muddle
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of piffle
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025 The irony of the lightweight piffle being resurrected 26 years later isn’t lost on the group. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023 The whole story now seems like so much piffle, except for the sons who lost their mother and a princess who lost her life. —John Anderson, WSJ, 7 Oct. 2021 People who are too cowardly to put their names behind their allegations are hiding in the shadows, using the anonymity of dark money laws to try to raise doubts in the minds of voters by spreading inflammatory charges that amount to piffle. —cleveland, 12 Sep. 2021 It’s a not-quite-living imitation of a movie, a self-parody that lacks even a touch of humor—because, at the slightest sting of wit, its entire membrane of fakery would burst and leave hardly a piffle of vapor behind. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2021 To note that Gloria!, the directing debut of Italian actor-singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario, is vapid, pseudo-feminist, sentimental piffle would be entirely accurate. —Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025 The Ritz, a smart London hotel where Margaret Thatcher spent her last days, is in fine fettle, turning a neat annual profit and valued in the region of £800m—not bad for a property bought for a piffling £75m in 1995. —The Economist, 31 Oct. 2019
Noun
That may not sound like a virtue, but in a world where horror comes either overloaded with metaphor or reduced to bloody piffle, Cregger valiantly navigates an unnerving middle way. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 8 Aug. 2025 The irony of the lightweight piffle being resurrected 26 years later isn’t lost on the group. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023 The whole story now seems like so much piffle, except for the sons who lost their mother and a princess who lost her life. —John Anderson, WSJ, 7 Oct. 2021 People who are too cowardly to put their names behind their allegations are hiding in the shadows, using the anonymity of dark money laws to try to raise doubts in the minds of voters by spreading inflammatory charges that amount to piffle. —cleveland, 12 Sep. 2021 It’s a not-quite-living imitation of a movie, a self-parody that lacks even a touch of humor—because, at the slightest sting of wit, its entire membrane of fakery would burst and leave hardly a piffle of vapor behind. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2021 To note that Gloria!, the directing debut of Italian actor-singer-songwriter Margherita Vicario, is vapid, pseudo-feminist, sentimental piffle would be entirely accurate. —Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
And what The New Yorker saw happening most of all was Charlie Chaplin, who figures prominently in the magazine’s first year, in contexts ranging from pithy to piffling. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025 The Ritz, a smart London hotel where Margaret Thatcher spent her last days, is in fine fettle, turning a neat annual profit and valued in the region of £800m—not bad for a property bought for a piffling £75m in 1995. —The Economist, 31 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piffle
Noun
-
This is why all the whining and complaining from small market teams across the sport is manipulative nonsense.— Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Apr. 2026
-
Or from whatever this risibly self-serious metaphysical nonsense about performance and possession, creation and exorcism, aims to be.— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
But somewhere along the way the message of gratitude and goodwill got muddled.— Eric Thomas, Sun Sentinel, 19 Apr. 2026
-
Quite possibly the easiest way to try this trend is to muddle herbs into your favorite drink recipes.— Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
For example, the EV mandate would be imposed on a company like Waste Management which pays the local government a franchise fee for the exclusive right to provide garbage collection services to all the residents.— Jon Coupal, Oc Register, 18 Apr. 2026
-
But the temporary solution for many buildings is asking residents to fill in as volunteer cleaners, garbage schleppers, and greeters.— Anne Kadet, Curbed, 17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Think of it like preparing a bed, fluffed, soft, and ready to support growth.— Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 8 Apr. 2026
-
The set boasts a luxe 300-thread-count and a cotton fill that fluffs up beautifully in the wash.— Mariana Best, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Mulhouse Public Prosecutor Nicolas Heitz speaks to the press after a boy was discovered naked and malnourished on a pile of rubbish in a van where he had been kept locked up, in Hagenbach, eastern France, on April 10, 2026.— CBS News, CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026
-
Stony rubbish, dead trees, the odd corpse in the garden—nothing that couldn’t be absorbed back into the earth.— Caroline Fraser, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Padres fielders blundered in three of his outings.— Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
-
People see this president as having blundered into a war with no clear rationale.— NBC news, NBC news, 5 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Time to stop the silliness with the opener and start him.— Troy Renck, Denver Post, 18 Apr. 2026
-
Levy and Taylor Ortega play disorganized siblings who get thrust into the world of organized crime, a departure from the world of Schitt’s Creek, but still maintains the silliness and fun of a Dan Levy show.— Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Navigating the world of cell phone carrier costs can boggle the mind.— K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 17 Mar. 2026
-
How anyone ascended Drifter’s Escape truly boggles the mind.— Frederick Dreier, Outside, 16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Piffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/thesaurus/piffle. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
