twopenny

American  

[tuhp-uh-nee, too-pen-ee] / ˈtʌp ə ni, ˈtuˌpɛn i /

adjective

1. of the amount or value of twopence.

2. costing twopence.

3. of very little value; trifling; worthless.

---

twopenny British  

/ ˈtʌpənɪ /

adjective

1. Also: twopenny-halfpenny. cheap or tawdry

2. (intensifier)

   a twopenny damn

3. worth two pence

---

Etymology

Origin of twopenny

First recorded in 1525–35; two + penny

Example Sentences

Our daughter picked her way through a mechanical funhouse, then fed twopenny coins into slot machines.

From Washington Post • Feb. 17, 2022

In the most common Random House edition, it’s there, it’s final and it’s huge — an inky one-eighth of an inch in diameter, the head of a twopenny nail stabbed into the book.

From New York Times • Jun. 12, 2018

"London, all agape, crowds to the twopenny tube," the Daily Mail reported in the week of its opening.

From The Guardian • Jan. 9, 2013

Penny papers, like the Daily Mail and Daily Express, which used to run from 16 to 20 pages, were months ago reduced to twelve, the great twopenny London Times to 16.

From Time Magazine Archive

We whistled loud, we whistled long, The whole of that afternoon; But there wasn't wind enough to float A twopenny pink balloon.

From Kensington Rhymes by MacKenzie, Compton