picayune
1 Americanadjective
-
of little value or account; small; trifling.
a picayune amount.
- Synonyms:
- trivial, paltry, nugatory, measly, insignificant, inconsequential
-
petty, carping, or prejudiced.
I didn't want to seem picayune by criticizing.
- Synonyms:
- illiberal, small-minded, petty, narrow-minded, narrow
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.
noun
adjective
-
of small value or importance
-
mean; petty
noun
-
the half real, an old Spanish-American coin
-
any coin of little value, esp a five-cent piece
Other Word Forms
- picayunishly adverb
- picayunishness noun
Etymology
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
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.
The next-largest categories, and we think the most concerning, encompass election administration and absentee voting – often challenging mechanical, even picayune matters.
From Salon • Oct. 27, 2022
Some of the improvements Caplan counsels can seem picayune, such as insulating on-site work trailers, reducing idling, encouraging construction workers to use transit, and swapping out containers for open-bed shipping.
From Slate • Dec. 6, 2021
The NFL’s picayune rule book is difficult enough to enforce without an inherently arbitrary judgment on what happens after a play.
From Washington Post • Nov. 9, 2021
It seems clear that the NFL’s intent is to be picayune in its enforcement at the beginning of the year in the hope that players will be “scared straight.”
From Seattle Times • Sep. 24, 2021
I made the mistake of saying we were back to the picayune grind.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
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.
