picayune
Of little consequenceOf little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial.
Meaning
2 senses(US, informal)Of little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial.
(informal) small and of little importance
(US, informal)Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded.
Origin
The noun is borrowed from southern French picaillon, pécaillon, picayon (“type of small foThe noun is borrowed from southern French picaillon, pécaillon, picayon (“type of small foreign coin; (informal, especially in the plural) cash, money”), and from its etymon Occitan picalhon, picaioun (“cheaply made Savoyan-Piedmontese coin that was rapidly demonetized; (by extension) cash, money”), probably from Occitan piquar (“to ring (bells); to knock, strike”) (referring to the clinking of coins in a pocket), originally imitative.
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Forms
more picayune, most picayune| Comparative | more picayune Lesson |
|---|---|
| Superlative | most picayune Lesson |
regular
Synonyms
51 synonymsWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.