picayune Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite (informal) small and of little importance
    little; petty; footling; piffling; niggling; trivial; piddling; fiddling; lilliputian.
    • a fiddling sum of money
    • a footling gesture
    • our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war
    • a little (or small) matter
    • a dispute over niggling details
    • limited to petty enterprises
    • piffling efforts
    • giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction

WordNet

Pic`a*yune" noun
Etymology
From the language of the Caribs.
Definitions
  1. A small coin of the value of six and a quarter cents. See Fippenny bit. Local, U.S. adj. picayunish; small-minded

Webster 1913