pipsqueak

American  

[pip-skweek] / ˈpɪpˌskwik /

noun

Informal.

1. a contemptibly small or unimportant person; a twerp.

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pipsqueak British  

/ ˈpɪpˌskwiːk /

noun

1. informal  a person or thing that is insignificant or contemptible

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Etymology

Origin of pipsqueak

First recorded in 1895–1900; pip ⁴ + squeak

Example Sentences

“They didn’t want some pipsqueak like me coming in.”

From Los Angeles Times

“She lives instead with her family in a tidy Manhattan apartment. But Olivia resembles Eloise in both her fits of pique and her embryonic sense of chic. … She’s part Babe, part Liza Minnelli, hear her pipsqueak roar. Among her favorite things: high heels, Degas, accessories, Maria Callas.”

From Washington Post

We aren’t talking about two pipsqueak countries with next to no geopolitical significance but rather two economic giants that make up around 42% of the world’s gross domestic product and more than half its military spending and have a booming trade relationship of their own.

From Seattle Times

Or, in NFL boardroom terms, “What can that pipsqueak do to me?”

From Washington Times

Despite its macho reputation, the Y chromosome is a pipsqueak, carrying a mere 71 genes—less than one-tenth as many as the X chromosome.

From Science Magazine