Picayune

Quick meaning: Picayune is a noun meaning (by extension, archaic) A coin worth five cents (a nickel) or some other low value.

Meaning

(by extension, archaic) A coin worth five cents (a nickel) or some other low value.

More Meanings

1. (figuratively, informal) A person regarded as unworthy of respect or useless; also, something of very little value; a trifle.
2. Of little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial.
3. Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded.
4. (especially Louisiana, historical) A small coin of the value of six-and-a-quarter cents; a Spanish coin with a value of half a real; a fippenny bit.
5. (figuratively, informal) An argument, fact, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue or fails to make any difference.

Example Sentences

It's also representative of a psychological syndrome that I notice has gotten steadily worse as the Cruise wears on, a mental list of dissatisfactions and grievances that started picayune but has quickly become nearly despair-grade.

[T]here are four competing groups promoting the language – and they cannot agree even on how it should be spelled (Kernewek, Kernowek, Kernuak and Curnoack, among others). It might seem like a picayune matter, akin to the rivalry in the film "Monty Python's Life of Brian" between the Judean People's Front, the Judean Popular People's Front and the People's Front of Judea. But the issue is deadly serious to speakers of Cornish.

Word Forms

• picayunes

Synonyms for picayune

Depending on context, synonyms include also-ran, cipher, crumb, minnow, nebbish, nobody.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include little, lilliputian, petty, piddling, unimportant, trivial.

Related Dictionary Tools