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View synonyms for

picayune

1

[pik-ee-yoon, pik-uh-]

adjective

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

    a picayune amount.

    Synonyms: , , , , ,
  2. petty, carping, or prejudiced.

    I didn't want to seem picayune by criticizing.

    Synonyms: , , , ,


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

[pik-uh-yoon, pik-ee-]

noun

  1. a town in SE Mississippi.

picayune

/ ˌɪəˈː /

adjective

  1. of small value or importance

  2. mean; petty

“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

noun

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

  2. any coin of little value, esp a five-cent piece

“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
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Other Word Forms

  • picayunishly adverb
  • picayunishness noun
  • ˌ辱ˈܲԾԱ noun
  • ˌ辱ˈܲԾ adverb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of picayune1

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of picayune1

C19: from French picaillon coin from Piedmont, from Provençal picaioun, of unknown origin
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

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

From

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

From

Marshall's confirmation was a giant step forward in Supreme Court and U.S. history, but along the way he faced Senate Judiciary Committee questions that were race-baiting, arrogant, irrelevant and picayune.

From

The NFL’s picayune rule book is difficult enough to enforce without an inherently arbitrary judgment on what happens after a play.

From

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

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