baladí

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic بَلَدِيّ (baladiyy, “indigenous, native”), from بَلَد (balad, “country, land; town; community”), via Andalusian Arabic بَلَدِي (baladī).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /balaˈdi/ [ba.laˈð̞i]
• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: ba‧la‧dí

Adjective

baladí m or f (masculine and feminine plural baladís or baladíes)

1. trivial, banal, of no importance, meaningless

   Synonyms: despreciable, fútil, insignificante, insustancial, intrascendente, nimio, pueril, superficial, trivial, vano

   Antonyms: importante, sustancial

   no es cuestión baladí ― it is not a trivial matter

   un tema baladí ― a meaningless subject

   • 1883, Benito Pérez Galdós, El doctor Centeno:

     ¿Y cuándo predicamos en Palacio? -preguntó en tono de excelsitud el señor de Morales, ávido de cortar, con una proposición seria, aquel tema tan baladí.

     "So when will we preach in Palacio?", asked wondrously Mr Morales, eager to cut short such a trivial topic with a serious proposition.

2. (obsolete) belonging or relating to one's place of origin

Derived terms

• clavo baladí

 

Further reading

• “baladí”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10