picayune

Meaning

Noun

1. (Louisiana, US, especially, 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.
2. (US, archaic, broadly) A coin worth five cents (a nickel) or some other low value.
3. (US, figuratively, informal) A person regarded as unworthy of respect or useless; also, something of very little value; a trifle.
4. (US, figuratively, informal) An argument, fact, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue or fails to make any difference.

Adj

1. (US, informal) Of little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial.
2. (US, informal) Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded.

Synonyms

trivial

niggling

petty

piddling

piffling

little

trifling

fiddling

footling

lilliputian

no-account

paltry

potty

slender

small

small-time

unimportant

unimposing

unimpressive

uninfluential

no-count

subfusc

chintzy

shrimpy

contemptible

despicable

diminutive

inconsequential

inconsiderable

insignificant

invalid

limited

nickel-and-dime

Translations

hûr

fîskanî

insignificante

pequeño

trivial

nimi

petit

intrascendent

insignificant

gering

klein

kleinlich

minimal

nichtig

inconsiderable

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˌpɪkəˈjuːn/

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from southern French picaillon, pécaillon, picayon (“type of small foreign coin; (informal, especially in the plural) cash, money”), and from its etymon Occitan picalhon, picaioun (“cheaply made Savoyan-Piedmontese coin that was rapidly demonetized; (by extension) cash, money”), probably from Occitan piquar (“to ring (bells); to knock, strike”) (referring to the clinking of coins in a pocket), originally imitative.
The adjective is derived from the noun.