You searched for: “picayune”
picayune (pi ki YOON; pik" uh YOON) (adjective), more picayune, most picayune
1. Pertaining to anything that is petty, trifling, paltry, insignificant, or worthless: Joe didn't want to argue with his wife about such a picayune matter as to which color shirt he should wear to the party.
2. Etymology: from French, picaillon, "small coin, halfpenny".
Trivial, cheap, and of little importance or value.
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Petty, small, a trifling value.
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Of insignificant value.
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This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group P (page 2)
picayune (s) (noun), picayunes (pl)
1. Anything that is small, unimportant, or insignificant: In parts of the southern United States (Louisiana, Florida, etc.), during the early eighteen hundreds, the picayune was the name of an old French copper coin and the Spanish half-real; both of which were called picayunes.
2. An insignificant person or thing: In this part of Germany, people have been experiencing winter that is so mild that it is a picayune because it is more like spring than winter.
This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group P (page 2)
picayune, more picayune, most picayune
Pertaining to anything that is trivial, unimportant, of slight value, or worthless. (3)
This entry is located in the following unit: Word a Day Revisited Index of Cartoons Illustrating the Meanings of Words (page 61)