Trivial - Important SAT Vocabulary
It may seem unimportant, but it's not.
We’ve got a useful one today that shows up everywhere: TRIVIAL.
This word distinguishes between what matters and what doesn’t, and it’s one you’ll see on the SAT and in college reading.
📚️ Definition of Trivial
Trivial (adjective): Of little importance, value, or significance; commonplace or ordinary. Something that is trivial doesn’t deserve serious attention. Example: a trivial effort.
🗣️ Pronunciation of Trivial
IPA: /ˈtrɪ.vi.əl/ (See IPA key)
Respelling: TRIH-vee-uhl
📰 Examples of Trivial
Here are some examples of the word trivial:
While planning the wedding reception, Renata obsessed over trivial details like the color of the napkins, but I was more worried about keeping costs down.
Don’t stress over trivial matters; focus on what’s important.
Omitting a comma may seem trivial, but in some cases doing so can completely change the meaning of a sentence. A classic example: Let’s eat grandma vs Let’s eat, grandma.
2026-01-05 edit: This past weekend I was reading the Greek myth about the riddle of the Sphinx (Which animal walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at midday, and three in the evening?) to one of my kids. In the myth, Oedipus solves the riddle to become the fated king of Thebes.
The word trivia has a very interesting etymology that actually shows up in the myth--at the intersection of three roads, Oedipus meets an older man and gets into a fatal altercation with him. This type of intersection of was known as a trivium. Think about it—tri means three (as in triangle) and via means road or path. And at these crossroads, travelers would stop to rest, exchange information, or often just make small talk. As a result, the word trivia came to mean commonplace or ordinary. And over time, the word further evolved to mean unimportant or minor details.