picayune

¹ American  

[pik-ee-yoon, pik-uh-] / ˌpɪk iˈyun, ˌpɪk ə- /

adjective

Informal.

1. of little value or account; small; trifling.

   a picayune amount.

   Synonyms:

   trivial, paltry, nugatory, measly, insignificant, inconsequential

2. petty, carping, or prejudiced.

   I didn't want to seem picayune by criticizing.

   Synonyms:

   illiberal, small-minded, petty, narrow-minded, narrow

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noun

1. (formerly, in Louisiana, Florida, etc.) a coin equal to half a Spanish real.

2. any small coin, as a five-cent piece.

3. Informal. an insignificant person or thing.

Picayune ² American  

[pik-uh-yoon, pik-ee-] / ˌpɪk əˈyun, ˌpɪk i- /

noun

1. a town in SE Mississippi.

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picayune British  

/ ˌpɪkəˈjuːn /

adjective

1. of small value or importance

2. mean; petty

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noun

1. the half real, an old Spanish-American coin

2. 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

To an outsider, this torrent of picayune detail about the financial markets would have been disorienting.

From Literature

The next-largest categories, and we think the most concerning, encompass election administration and absentee voting – often challenging mechanical, even picayune matters.

From Salon

When Jacobs tells a Kryptos message board he’s visiting the sculpture, the solvers have absurdly picayune requests.

From Washington Post

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

But, however overwrought Anna’s sensibility sometimes is, Mrs. Lessing points such powerful significances therefrom that, in comparison, many other highly touted novels dealing with man’s acceptance — or defiance — of his fate seem picayune indeed.

From New York Times