adjective

• 1Too small or unimportant to be worth consideration.

  ‘the sum required was insignificant compared with military spending’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Don't think that local elections are measly, insignificant, and not worth your time.’
  • ‘Again she was frustrated as the money was insignificant compared to her so-called husband's supposed worth.’
  • ‘Watercraft skills are a necessity but any swim, no matter how small or insignificant, is worth a try, even if only for a couple of minutes or a single trot.’
  • ‘No matter what the outcome, no-one should ever feel that their view is too small, unimportant or insignificant for them to put it forward and have their voice heard.’
  • ‘The pensioners' Christmas bonus, was, in that overall scheme, an insignificant measure that amounted to a token of the government's intent.’
  • ‘All that is insignificant compared to what his family has faced.’
  • ‘The cost is insignificant compared to the joy it brings.’
  • ‘He pointed out levels are insignificant compared with parts of Devon and Cornwall where more than 30 per cent of houses are affected.’
  • ‘But today indictments can appear insignificant compared to the ongoing threat.’
  • ‘What America is tasting now is something insignificant compared to what we have tasted for scores of years.’
  • ‘The value of their lives is insignificant, compared to the value of our rights and freedoms.’
  • ‘He would not have said the life of one refugee is insignificant compared to the overall problem.’
  • ‘It is surely possible to imagine a culture, for instance, in which race would be an unimportant, insignificant characteristic of individuals.’
  • ‘The post-socialization troubles of the Chinese countryside were insignificant compared with those experienced by the Soviet Union.’
  • ‘Only an insignificant amount of the mass of the atom is associated with electrons, so the mass of the atom also stays essentially the same.’
  • ‘One of the crucial aspects that I like to point out is that crime in Namibia is insignificant compared with that in South Africa, for instance.’
  • ‘Getting a particular letter out is insignificant compared to finding ways and means of making your office run smoothly.’
  • ‘However, these seem to me to be insignificant factors compared to the factors that weigh in favour of sending the matter to the Federal Court.’
  • ‘I now realise that charges are but an insignificant issue compared to the ongoing uncertainty about what am I going to get when I reach retirement.’
  • ‘This has led to a saving of over 100 requests a month our current daily workload which, if translated into money, is not an insignificant amount.’

  Synonyms

  unimportant, of minor importance, of no importance, of little importance, of little import, trivial, trifling, footling, negligible, inconsequential, of little consequence, of no consequence, of no account, of no moment, inconsiderable, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, nugatory, meagre, paltry, scanty, petty, insubstantial, unsubstantial, flimsy, frivolous, pointless, worthless, irrelevant, immaterial, peripheral, extraneous, non-essential

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1(of a person) without power or influence.
     ‘she was so small and insignificant’
     More example sentences

     • ‘I really did think their influence had waned to a point where they were as insignificant as they deserved to be.’
     • ‘Why should those people give them respect and they are insignificant, you know, in their number and in their impact, you know, to the community.’
     • ‘Because you are insignificant, the emperor in your heart can only be the dictator of one person, and that person is yourself.’
     • ‘They are pretty insignificant politically, and located too far away for anyone to really bother.’
     • ‘We become stuck in the sameness of reality, because if reality is concrete, obviously I am insignificant.’
     • ‘But I rest easy in the knowledge that we are insignificant in the grand scheme of things.’
     • ‘Never believe that you are too insignificant to make a difference.’
     • ‘Jesus is saying to us that we matter in God's eyes, we are not insignificant.’
     • ‘He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him.’
     • ‘It would show that while we are insignificant in the universe, we understand how we came to be.’
     • ‘I may not have the ability to hide Rose or sneak her away from the dark wizard's lethal intent, but I was insignificant.’
     • ‘They bow right over so their face is touching the ground because they know they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things, they are miniscule compared to God.’
     • ‘You have to persuade them that they are insignificant and powerless so they will live their lives in accordance with that.’
     • ‘We were too insignificant to worry about and the war hurt everybody.’
     • ‘Though Lawrence serves as an example of what might have happened to Macdonald, he is historically insignificant.’
     • ‘But the Shadow had shown them that they were still insignificant and easily crushed.’
     • ‘And the most startling thing was to learn suddenly that he was very insignificant.’
     • ‘He was insignificant, so that no one would remember or notice, which is why he was perfect for his job.’
     • ‘By the way, this is not to say that Chinese bloggers are totally insignificant and negligible.’
     • ‘I am very scared, and very lonely, and I feel petty and insignificant.’

• 2Meaningless.

  ‘insignificant yet enchanting phrases’

  More example sentences

  • ‘It involved handing them a sheet with two short and insignificant phrases.’