PICAYUNE

fiddling, footling, lilliputian, little, niggling, piddling, piffling, petty, picayune, trivial

(adjective) (informal) small and of little importance; “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”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Adjective

picayune (comparative more picayune, superlative most picayune)

(informal, North American) Petty, trivial; of little consequence; small and of little importance.

Synonyms: picayunish, petty, trivial, worthless, Thesaurus:insignificant

Small-minded; childishly spiteful, tending to go on about unimportant things.

Synonyms: malicious, peevish, petty

Noun

picayune (plural picayunes)

(US, especially, Louisiana, archaic) A small coin of the value of six-and-a-quarter cents; a fippenny bit.

(archaic) A five-cent piece.

(informal) Something of very little value; a trifle.

Synonym: Thesaurus:trifle

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

Source: Wiktionary

Pic`a*yune", n. Etym: [From the language of the Caribs.]

Definition: A small coin of the value of six and a quarter cents. See Fippenny bit. [Local, U.S.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition