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Webster 1913 Edition
Picayune
Picˊa-yune′
,Noun.
[From the language of the Caribs.]
A small coin of the value of six and a quarter cents. See
Fippenny bit
. [Local, U.S.]
Definition 2024
picayune
picayune
English
Adjective
picayune (comparative more picayune, superlative most picayune)
- Petty, trivial; of little consequence; small and of little importance; picayunish;
- 2005, New York Times, November 17, 2005
- "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."
- 2005, New York Times, November 17, 2005
- Small-minded: being childishly spiteful, tending to go on about unimportant things.
Synonyms
Noun
picayune (plural picayunes)
- (US, chiefly Louisiana, archaic) A small coin of the value of six and a quarter cents; a fippenny bit.
- (archaic) A five-cent piece.
- Something of very little value; a trifle.
- An argument, fact, corner case, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue at hand or does not change a primary supposition, outcome, postulate, premise, conclusion, hypothesis, judgment or recommendation.
Translations
A small coin of the value of six and a quarter cents.
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A five-cent piece.
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Something of very little value.
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See also
- picayune on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- Picayune in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.