Meaning & use
trivializing
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“trivializing” is a form of “trivialize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbtransitive
making something serious seem unimportant or not worth attention
Grammar: This is the -ing form of trivialize and it takes an object: trivializing the problem.
Patterns
- trivialize something
- trivialize someone's concerns
- trivialize the issue
The article was criticized for trivializing the suffering of refugees.
He kept trivializing her worries, so she stopped talking to him about them.
By joking about the exam, the teacher risked trivializing the students' hard work.
Word forms
| third person singular | trivializes |
|---|---|
| past tense | trivialized |
| past participle | trivialized |
| -ing form | trivializing |
Common combinations
- trivialize the issue
- Politicians often trivialize the issue of climate change.
- trivialize someone's feelings
- Don't trivialize her feelings; they matter to her.
- trivialize a serious problem
- The film was accused of trivializing a serious problem.
- risk trivializing
- A careless comment can risk trivializing the whole debate.
Synonyms and how they differ
- downplay
- Downplay means to make something seem less important, but it often suggests a deliberate attempt to reduce its impact, while trivialize suggests treating it as unimportant.
- belittle
- Belittle means to make someone or something seem small or unimportant; it often focuses on people's achievements, whereas trivialize focuses on the importance of issues.
- minimize
- Minimize means to reduce something to the smallest possible level; it can be neutral, while trivialize always carries criticism.
Opposites
Word family
- trivial adjective
- of little importance or value
- triviality noun
- the state of being unimportant, or something unimportant
- trivialize verb
- to make something seem unimportant
- trivialization noun
- the act of making something seem unimportant
Commonly confused: trivializing or trivial?
trivializing vs trivial
Trivial is an adjective meaning unimportant; trivializing is the -ing form of the verb.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'trivializing' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Trivializing is the -ing form of the verb trivialize, which takes an object, so 'trivializing the serious issue' after 'of' is correct. Option A uses 'trivializing' without an object and with 'about', which is wrong. Option C lacks an auxiliary verb. Option D uses 'trivializing' as a noun, but the noun is 'trivialization'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trivializing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.