insignificance

American  

[in-sig-nif-i-kuhns] / ˌɪn sɪgˈnɪf ɪ kəns /

noun

1. the quality or condition of being insignificant; lack of importance or consequence.

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Other Word Forms

• self-insignificance
  noun

Etymology

Origin of insignificance

First recorded in 1690–1700; insignific(ancy) + -ance

Example Sentences

Lola is a relative free spirit with an open heart but a sense of limits; Aimée’s performance emphasizes the essential innocence, or maybe insignificance, of her flirtations.

From New York Times • Jun. 18, 2024

Almost always, she said, there is a predictable sequence in which people take-in an eclipse: it begins with a sense of wrongness and primal fear, followed by a feeling of connectedness and insignificance.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2024

In both movies, painful memories become wondrous hallucinations, a tower becomes a portal between worlds, and questions of reality versus fantasy, or old versus young, blur into insignificance.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2023

Coined by legendary psychoanalyst Alfred Adler in the 1920s, the term initially described children driven by their small size and social insignificance to strive for power over their environment.

From National Geographic • Nov. 22, 2023

They were still looking at him with consternation and unbelief when the minister rose and introduced him in rich, rolling tones whose very unction served to increase the visitor's insignificance.

From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner