English Explanatory Dictionary

picayune

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A small coin of the value of six-and-a-quarter cents; a Spanish coin with a value of half a real; a fippenny bit.
  2. A coin worth five cents (a nickel) or some other low value.
  3. A person regarded as unworthy of respect or useless; also, something of very little value; a trifle.
  4. An argument, fact, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue or fails to make any difference.
adj
  1. Of little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial.
  2. Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded.

Pronunciation

ʹpĭk'ə'yo͝on /ˌpɪkəˈjuːn/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-picayune.wav /ˌpɪkəˈjun/ /-ki-/

Word forms

picayune picayunes more picayune most picayune

Etymology

The 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. The adjective is derived from the noun.

Synonyms

absolute zero also-ran chopped liver cipher crumb Joe Nobody little guy minnow nebbish nobody no one nothing nothingburger nonentity picayune pip-squeak pleb peon prole puny quidam rinky-dink shrimp wankstain zero zilch bagatelle bag of shells bric-a-brac dicky dicky-bird fico fig flamfew flyspeck minuity niff-naff scuddick sop ticky-tack toy trick trifle triviality whiffle white chip picayunish base contemptible floccinaucinihilipilificatious foolish for the birds futile frivolous idle ignorable immaterial inconsequential inconsiderable indifferent

Derived words

picayuneish picayunish picayunishness picayunity picayunely picayuneness
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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