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pissant

or piss-ant

[pis-ant]
noun
  1. Slang: Vulgar. a person or thing of no value or consequence; a despicable person or thing.
  2. Obsolete. an ant.
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adjective
  1. Slang: Vulgar. insignificant or worthless.
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Origin of pissant

1655–65, in sense “ant”; piss + ant, probably orig. on the model of pismire
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for pissant

pissant

noun
  1. an insignificant or contemptible person
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adjective
  1. insignificant or contemptible
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Word Origin

C17: from piss + ant
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

Word Origin and History for pissant

n.

1660s, "an ant," from first element of pismire (q.v.) + ant. Meaning "contemptible, insignificant person" is from 1903.

"[B]y sun-down [the gals] come pourin out of the woods like pissants out of an old log when tother end's afire." ["Dick Harlan's Tennessee Frolic," in collection "A Quarter Race in Kentucky," Philadelphia, 1846]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper