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Synonyms

peccadillo

American  
[pek-uh-dil-oh] / ˌpɛk əˈdɪl oʊ /

noun

plural

peccadilloes, peccadillos

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

    Synonyms:
    indiscretion, faux pas, slip, lapse
peccadillo British  
/ ˌpɛkəˈdɪləʊ /

noun

  1. a petty sin or trifling fault

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of peccadillo

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Scotland has one peccadillo and that is Cardinal O'Brien," he says.

From BBC • May 7, 2025

Yet he is likely soon to be sworn in, admitting only to the peccadillo of “résumé embellishment” when really what he seems to have done is “made up almost everything about his biography.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 4, 2023

A minor peccadillo alongside the enormities rightly laid at the door of your man.

From New York Times • Oct. 14, 2022

A love of disinformation is the peccadillo that springs from bigotry, not the other way around.

From Salon • Jul. 13, 2022

Mr. Carew's lips curled a little cruelly as he remarked he would easily nip that peccadillo in the bud.

From The Rhodesian by Page, Gertrude

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.