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picayune

[ pik-ee-yoon, pik-uh- ]
/ ˌpɪk iˈyun, ˌpɪk ə- /
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adjective Also pic·a·yun·ish. Informal.
of little value or account; small; trifling: a picayune amount.
petty, carping, or prejudiced: I didn't want to seem picayune by criticizing.
noun
(formerly, in Louisiana, Florida, etc.) a coin equal to half a Spanish real.
any small coin, as a five-cent piece.
Informal. an insignificant person or thing.
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Origin of picayune

First recorded in 1780–90; from Provençal picaioun “small copper coin” (compare French picaillons ), derivative of an unattested onomatopoetic base pikk- “beat,” here referring to the coining of coppers

OTHER WORDS FROM picayune

pic·a·yun·ish·ly, adverbpic·a·yun·ish·ness, noun

Words nearby picayune

picaresque, picaro, picaroon, Picasso, Picasso, Pablo, picayune, Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, piccalilli, piccanin, piccaninny

Other definitions for picayune (2 of 2)

Picayune
[ pik-uh-yoon, pik-ee- ]
/ ˌpɪk əˈyun, ˌpɪk i- /
noun
a town in SE Mississippi.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

Words related to picayune

diminutive, everyday, frivolous, immaterial, incidental, inconsequential, inconsiderable, insignificant, irrelevant, little, meager, mean, meaningless, minor, minute, negligible, nonessential, paltry, petty, piddling

How to use picayune in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for picayune

picayune
/ (ˌpɪkəˈjuːn) /
adjective Also: picayunish US and Canadian informal
of small value or importance
mean; petty
noun
the half real, an old Spanish-American coin
US any coin of little value, esp a five-cent piece

Derived forms of picayune

picayunishly, adverbpicayunishness, noun

Word Origin for picayune

C19: from French picaillon coin from Piedmont, from Provençal picaioun, of unknown origin
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
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