nugatory

Definition

Trivial, trifling or of little importance.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nūgātōrius.

Example Sentences

• "In sorrow and disgust, you wander over those multitudinous Books: you dwell in endless regions of the superficial, of the nugatory: to your bewildered sense it is as if no insight into the real heart of Friedrich and his affairs were anywhere to be had."
• "I might refer to the general conviction and the common sense of society that such an investment cannot be treated as absolutely idle and nugatory."
• "I can not dismiss the subject of Indian affairs without again recommending to your consideration the expediency of more adequate provision for giving energy to the laws throughout our interior frontier and for restraining the commission of outrages upon the Indians, without which all pacific plans must prove nugatory."