picayune

n. 小钱币, 五分钱币, 微不足道的事物, 无足轻重的人 a. 微不足道的, 不值钱的, 琐细的, 眼光狭小的, 小气的, 可鄙的

发音

UK /ˌpɪkəˈjuːn/
其它
US /ˌpɪkəˈjun/
US /-ki-/

词形变化

picayunes 复数 picayunes more picayune 比较级 most picayune 最高级

别名

picaillon

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    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.

    美国 历史
  2. 2.

    A coin worth five cents (a nickel) or some other low value.

    美国 古体 引申义
  3. 3.

    A person regarded as unworthy of respect or useless; also, something of very little value; a trifle.

    美国 比喻 非正式
  4. 4.

    An argument, fact, or other issue raised (often intentionally) that distracts from a larger issue or fails to make any difference.

    美国 比喻 非正式
adj.
  1. 1.

    Of little consequence; small and of little importance; petty, trivial.

    美国 非正式
  2. 2.

    Childishly spiteful; tending to go on about unimportant things; small-minded.

    美国 非正式

词汇关系

形容词

同义词 9

little petty trivial fiddling footling lilliputian niggling piddling piffling

近义相关 1

unimportant

词源

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.

来源：wiktionary