picayune

adj.

1. Of little value or importance; paltry. See synonyms at trivial.
2. Petty; mean.

n.

1. A Spanish-American half-real piece formerly used in parts of the southern United States.
2. A five-cent piece.
3. Something of very little value; a trifle: not worth a picayune.

[Louisiana French picaillon, small coin, from French, from Provençal picaioun, from picaio, money, perhaps from Old Provençal piquar, to jingle, clink, from Vulgar Latin *piccāre, to pierce. See pique.]

picayunish pic'a·yun'ish adj.

(pik-uh-YOON)

adjective
1. Of little value or significance.
2. Petty, small-minded.

noun
1. A Spanish-American coin equal to half the value of a real (a silver coin).
2. A small coin, especially a five-cent piece.
3. Something or someone of little value.

Etymology
From French picaillon, from Provençal picaioun, a small coin.

Usage
"One could criticize the book as having a progovernment bias, but such criticism would be picayune and, I believe, wrong." — Hawley, F. Frederick, Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams. (book reviews), Social Forces, Mar 1, 1995.

"Well, it is not supposed to be good form these days to dwell on the picayune personal problems, especially of Republicans, but, you know, I've never been much for form. So, of the speaker, Gingrich's three recent personal problems - his mother, his historian and his book - the book is potentially, I think, the most serious." — Schorr - Reality Sets in for New Congress, Weekend Edition - Saturday NPR, Jan 14, 1995.

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adjective

Contemptibly unimportant: inconsiderable, negligible, niggling, nugatory, paltry, petty, piddling, small, small-minded, trifling. Slang measly. Idioms: of no account. See important/unimportant.

1) a silver 5-cent coin struck by the U.S. mint from 1792-1873: half dime
2) something trivial:  <not worth a picayune>

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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - ubetydelig, snæversynet
n. - bagatel

Nederlands (Dutch)
stuiver, onbelangrijk iemand/iets, kleingeestig

Français (French)
adj. - (US) mesquin
n. - (US) pièce modique de cinq cents

Deutsch (German)
n. - kleine Münze, etwas Unbedeutendes
adj. - kleinlich, unbedeutend

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ΗΠΑ) δεκάρα, πεντάρα
adj. - ευτελέστατος, φτηνός, τιποτένιος

Italiano (Italian)
monetina da 5 centesimi (USA), meschino, inezia, nonnulla

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ninharia (f), moeda de pouco valor (f)
adj. - insignificante

Русский (Russian)
мизерный

Español (Spanish)
adj. - de poca monta
n. - insignificante

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - bagatell, obetydl. person
adj. - obetydlig, småskuren

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
无聊的, 不值钱的, 小钱币, 无聊之物, 五分钱币

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 無聊的, 不值錢的
n. - 小錢幣, 無聊之物, 五分錢幣

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 아주 보잘 것 없는
n. - 피카윤(스페인의 소화폐), 하찮은 것

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ピカユーン, 小銭, つまらないもの
adj. - つまらない, けちくさい, くだらない

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شخص أو شيء تافه (صفه) تافه, حقير, سخيف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮בזוי, קמצן, פעוט-ערך‬
n. - ‮חמישה סנט, דבר בזוי/חסר-ערך‬

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