peccadillo

[ pek-uh-dil-oh ]

noun

, plural pec·ca·dil·loes, pec·ca·dil·los.

1. a very minor or slight sin or offense; a trifling fault.

   Synonyms: indiscretion, faux pas, slip, lapse

peccadillo

/ ˌpɛkəˈdɪləʊ /

noun

1. a petty sin or trifling fault

Word History and Origins

Origin of peccadillo¹

1585–95; < Spanish pecadillo, diminutive of pecado sin < Latin peccātum transgression, noun use of neuter of past participle of peccāre to err, offend

Word History and Origins

Origin of peccadillo¹

C16: from Spanish pecadillo, from pecado sin, from Latin peccātum, from peccāre to transgress

Example Sentences

Besides, the gift bag peccadillo is the least skeevy of Jeter's alleged bedroom behavior.

From The Daily Beast

And yet Louisiana does not prohibit a far stranger peccadillo: sex with corpses.

From The Daily Beast

Peccadillo, pek-a-dil′lo, n. a little or trifling sin: a petty fault:—pl.

From Project Gutenberg

In fact, homicide on the frontier, as compared with horse-stealing, is a peccadillo.

From Project Gutenberg

Already, he was a little too fond of his liquor—a peccadillo which attracted little attention in that age of the careless city.

From Project Gutenberg

Piracy, which ran in the Thanet blood, seemed to their good easy local annalist a regrettable peccadillo.

From Project Gutenberg

All the amendments, however, were adopted as early as 1753, except the correction of a grammatical peccadillo in the ninth stanza.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• impropriety
• indiscretion