trivia

trivia — noun

1. pieces of information or everyday matters that are too minor to be worth thinkin

1.nounB1
Definition

pieces of information or everyday matters that are too minor to be worth thinking about seriously

Example

Hui spent the whole morning reading celebrity gossip, filling her head with useless trivia.

uncountable noun + 'useless trivia'

During the meeting, the manager ignored the trivia and focused on the budget problems.

contrast: ignore trivia vs. focus on important matters

Common collocations
  • useless trivia
  • household trivia
  • mere trivia
  • argue about trivia
Synonyms
  • minutiae

    more formal, used of tiny precise details

  • trifles

    more old-fashioned or literary in tone

  • nonessentials

    focuses on what is not needed rather than what is trivial

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

piece(s) of trivia

trivia about + noun phrase

Common Mistakes

Don't waste time on trivias.
Don't waste time on trivia.
Trivia is uncountable and does not have a plural form.
I read some trivia informations.
I read some trivia facts.
Trivia already refers to pieces of information; adding 'informations' is redundant and ungrammatical.

2. little-known pieces of information about a wide variety of subjects, especially

2.nounB1
Definition

little-known pieces of information about a wide variety of subjects, especially of the kind asked as questions in a quiz game

Example

Ryo amazed his friends with his knowledge of obscure sports trivia from the 1990s.

collocation: sports trivia

The language-learning app sends you a new piece of trivia every morning.

pattern: a piece of trivia

Common collocations
  • sports trivia
  • history trivia
  • science trivia
  • music trivia
  • random trivia
  • obscure trivia
  • piece of trivia
  • bit of trivia
Synonyms
  • facts

    broader; not limited to obscure or game-related information

  • lore

    suggests traditional or cultural knowledge, often oral

Grammar Patterns

piece of trivia

trivia + noun (trivia question, trivia night)

trivia about + noun phrase

Usage Note

Frequently used as a modifier in compound nouns: trivia question, trivia night, trivia quiz, trivia buff.

Common Mistakes

He knows many interesting trivias.
He knows many interesting pieces of trivia.
Trivia is uncountable; use 'piece(s) of trivia' to refer to individual items.

3. a game or competition in which people are asked questions about unusual facts fr

3.nounB1
Definition

a game or competition in which people are asked questions about unusual facts from many different areas of knowledge

Example

Every Friday night the café hosts a trivia competition for local teams.

collocation: host a trivia competition

Élise and her colleagues formed a team for the company trivia night.

collocation: trivia night

Common collocations
  • play trivia
  • trivia night
  • trivia competition
  • trivia championship
  • win at trivia
  • trivia event
  • weekly trivia
Synonyms
  • quiz

    broader; a quiz can be on any subject and does not require obscure facts

  • quiz bowl

    a specific formal team competition format, mainly in the US

Grammar Patterns

play trivia

trivia night

trivia competition

trivia championship

Usage Note

This sense refers to the event or activity itself, not the information used in it. You 'play trivia' (uncountable) but attend 'a trivia night' (countable with modifier).

Common Mistakes

We played a trivia last night.
We played trivia last night.' or 'We went to a trivia night.
When referring to the game as an activity, trivia is uncountable. Use 'trivia night' or 'trivia competition' for the event.

Word family

  • trivial
    adjectiveB1
  • trivially
    adverbC1
  • triviality
    nounC1
  • trivialize
    verbC2
  • trivialization
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

Trivia (sense 2) refers to interesting but relatively unimportant pieces of information about random topics, often used in games. Facts is broader and more neutral — any verified piece of information is a fact, whether important or not. Knowledge implies understanding gained through learning or experience, not just scattered bits. Information is the widest term, covering any communicated data regardless of depth. Data is more technical and usually refers to organised sets of figures or statistics. For example, 'the capital of Bhutan' is a fact and a piece of trivia; knowing why Bhutan chose that capital requires deeper knowledge. Trivia is reserved for the playful, miscellaneous end of this spectrum.

trivia ↗factsknowledge ↗information ↗data ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • trivia question
  • trivia night
  • trivia game
  • trivia competition
  • trivia buff
  • trivia quiz
  • piece of trivia
  • bit of trivia
  • trivia championship

Phrases

  • book of trivia
  • knowledge of trivia
  • master of trivia

Prepositions

  • trivia about

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Trivia comes from the Latin plural noun trivium, meaning 'a place where three roads meet' (tri- 'three' + via 'road'). In medieval universities, the trivium was the lower division of the seven liberal arts (grammar, rhetoric, logic) — considered the 'ordinary' or 'common' subjects. From this, the adjective trivialis ('commonplace, ordinary') developed, which led to the English adjective trivial ('unimportant'). The noun trivia was re-borrowed in the early 20th century as a mass noun for 'unimportant details' and later took on the modern sense of miscellaneous interesting facts used in quiz games.