small potatoes

American  

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

1. a person or thing of little significance, importance, or value.

   His salary was small potatoes for an executive of his ability.

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small potatoes British  

noun

1. informal someone or something of little significance or value, esp a small amount of money

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Etymology

Origin of small potatoes

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

As for Walmart and Apple, yes, the former sells Apple products, but that distribution channel is small potatoes compared with Apple’s own digital and physical stores and mobile carriers.

From Barron's • Dec. 18, 2025

At the end of the day, some might see all these matters I’ve raised as small potatoes.

From Slate • May 22, 2025

Too many small potatoes were swept up in the indictment.

From Salon • May 15, 2024

“It is not small potatoes, it is not this small, incremental change in the way that the world works,” he said, stabbing the tip of his pencil into his notebook.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 25, 2023

Yet it is also true that the very same troubles that loom catastrophically large one day can seem like small potatoes the next, particularly if even worse troubles have popped up to take their place.

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood