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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to muddle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of piffle
Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 17 Mar. 2025
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
The irony of the lightweight piffle being resurrected 26 years later isn’t lost on the group.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
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
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
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
The fact that all those involved in discussing this question have heads full of tosh and piffle does not make for productive debates.
—Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2020
Though often dismissed as superstitious piffle, ghosts have proved surprisingly durable.
—The Economist, 28 Oct. 2017
The Economist, 31 Oct. 2019
Noun
Too often, the competing streaming algorithms at Netflix, Max, and Amazon Prime Video push a smattering of undifferentiated piffle.
—Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 17 Mar. 2025
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
The irony of the lightweight piffle being resurrected 26 years later isn’t lost on the group.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
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
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
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
The fact that all those involved in discussing this question have heads full of tosh and piffle does not make for productive debates.
—Salman Rushdie, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2020
Though often dismissed as superstitious piffle, ghosts have proved surprisingly durable.
—The Economist, 28 Oct. 2017
Verb
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
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This nonsense all tracks back to a May 9 visit Baraka, McIver and other members of Congress made to a New Jersey immigration detention center.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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Stop this nonsense [or] your executives and employees will see the same fate… Make the correct decision and pay the ransom.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
20 May 2025
Verb
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Time and again, TV Ellie feels weirdly neutered by the writing, her motivations and characterization oddly muddled and inconsistent.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
26 May 2025
-
His passable ensemble wisely included a pedal-steel guitarist and violinist, yet the mix muddled their contributions on an abundance of mid- and high-tempo material.—
Bob Gendron,
Chicago Tribune,
23 May 2025
Noun
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Duluth, Minnesota, has installed effective and unobtrusive signs at each beach entrance next to a garbage receptacle.—
John Michael Pierobon,
Sun Sentinel,
25 May 2025
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Allegiance The Resistance, led by General Leia Organa, regroups on the garbage planet Anoat, while Finn and Poe go on a secret mission to retrieve a weapons cache to increase their dwindling arsenal.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
25 May 2025
Verb
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The first half of the clip shows 14-week-old Leo with a small tail that looks highly unlikely to ever fluff out.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 2025
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Both Grimaldo and centre-back Jonathan Tah fluffed their duels in the build-up to Heidenheim’s second big chance of the game on 18 minutes, before they were forced to go long and turnover possession from the resultant goal kick, penned in by an adventurous pressing scheme.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
10 May 2025
Noun
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And oftentimes, these cheap items end up as rubbish.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2025
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This never got past the drawing board stage, but the idea kept cropping up again and again with many variations on a circular shape and performance that spanned from interesting to rubbish.—
David Szondy,
New Atlas,
29 Mar. 2025
Verb
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But rather than punishing the mistake, the Olympian immediately blundered his rook, leaving it exposed to Eze’s knight.—
Conor O'Neill,
New York Times,
10 May 2025
-
Gene and Wendell wouldn’t start to look for me until dark, and this bear was nothing to blunder into at night.—
Howard Copenhaver,
Outdoor Life,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Use it to find and retrieve stray nuts or bolts in any crevice.—
Nora Colomer,
FOXNews.com,
30 Mar. 2025
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Vegetables like broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, kale and asparagus are also included in most low-carb diets—as are eggs, cheese, Greek yogurt and nuts like walnuts, peanuts, macadamia nuts and pistachios.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
29 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Being in Paris and feeling that energy of the world was kind of mind boggling.—
DeMarco Williams,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
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The singer-songwriter added that most of her romantic relationships blossomed from close friendships, and that the concept of a romance that doesn’t come from a friendship or creative partnership boggles her mind.—
Stephen Daw,
Billboard,
18 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Piffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piffle. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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