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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to muddle
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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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.
—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.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for piffle
Noun
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Crucially, the eggs were fittingly fluffy, none of that rubbery nonsense that plague lesser burrito slingers.—
-
All’s Fair is girlboss nonsense.—
Verb
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However impressively efficient the American strike may have been, the president’s motives have been muddled.—
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The situation might be a bit more muddled by the US wanting to resume nuclear testing.—
Noun
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That’s the whole point of that process of aging and using garbage bags and paint.—
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Raising the city’s garbage fee was another structural solution that aldermen and the mayor opted to avoid because of similar political difficulties.—
Verb
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Simply spend 60 seconds straightening your sheets, smoothing your comforter or duvet, and fluffing your pillows, and marvel at how the chore instantly makes your entire bedroom look neater.—
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For an artificial tree, don't be afraid to fluff it.—
Noun
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Piles of human scraps offer a bottomless buffet to wildlife, and to access that bounty, animals need to be bold enough to rummage through human rubbish but not so bold as to become a threat to people.—
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Helga once wrestled down a drunk fisherman in the Café, a man of above-average size, and then threw him out like a piece of rubbish; Jens thus transfers most of his weight automatically to her; who is this kid, by the way?—
Verb
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The reason for the big deficit was another special teams blunder for the Giants, but an impressive Patriots rep as Marcus Jones ran back a punt from Gillan 94 yards for the game’s first touchdown.—
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In each episode, Goldstein or one of his fellow-producers explores a particular problem connected to someone’s past—an actor baffled by the blundering director of his first movie; a woman traumatized by a bizarre homecoming-queen mixup in high school—and tries to help resolve it.—
Noun
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The show combines the world-building vibes of BoJack Horseman with the silliness of Bob’s Burgers, and tops the whole thing off with the musical stylings of a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — all wrapped in family-friendly packaging.—
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Then came the commemorative T-shirts and hats and the horde of reporters around Saquon Barkley as the running back reflected on the silliness of this season.—
Verb
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Jerry's approach is so mind boggling.—
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Raising windshield wipers is a practice that likely boggles those unaccustomed to winter weather.—
Cite this Entry
“Piffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffle. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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