trivial
/ˈtɹɪv.i.əl/
"trivial" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“trivial” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,991 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #11,991
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ignorable; of little significance or value.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | trivial |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈtɹɪv.i.əl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #11,991 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “trivial” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for trivial is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɹɪv.i.əl/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,991 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for trivial, with forms such as "rtivial", "tirvial", and "triival". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "trial", "tribal", "trivia", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *tréyes * From Latin triviālis (“appropriate to the street-corner, commonplace, vulgar”), from trivium (“place where three roads meet”). Compare trivium, trivia. * From the distinction between trivium (“the lower division of the liberal arts; gram… The correct English form is trivial, spelled T-R-I-V-I-A-L.
Definition
- 1Ignorable; of little significance or value.
- 2Commonplace, ordinary.
- 3Concerned with or involving trivia.
- 4Relating to or designating the name of a species; specific as opposed to generic.
- 5Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case.
- 6Of, relating to, or being the simplest possible case.
- 7Self-evident.
- 8Pertaining to the trivium.
- 9Indistinguishable in case of truth or falsity.
Etymology
PIE word *tréyes * From Latin triviālis (“appropriate to the street-corner, commonplace, vulgar”), from trivium (“place where three roads meet”). Compare trivium, trivia. * From the distinction between trivium (“the lower division of the liberal arts; grammar, logic and rhetoric”) and quadrivium (“the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rtivial,tirvial,triival,trivail,triviall,trivila,trivvial,trrivial,trviial,ttrivial
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of trivial - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “trivial”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-R-I-V-I-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɹɪv.i.əl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “trial” - see the side-by-side comparison. trivial vs trial
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.