picayune + noun
作定语,直接放在名词前,多含贬义,指事情或数额微小、不重要。
The committee spent hours on picayune details.
委员会花了几个小时讨论微不足道的细节。
微不足道的;琐碎的
不值钱的;琐细的;眼光狭小的
微不足道的
(informal) small and of little importance
They spent the whole afternoon arguing over a picayune squabble about who left the fridge open.
他们整个下午都在为谁忘了关冰箱这种鸡毛蒜皮的争吵而耗费时间。
用法提示:picayune 作形容词,修饰 squabble,表示争吵琐碎不重要。
The manager is obsessed with picayune details while ignoring the bigger strategy issues.
经理过于纠结于细枝末节,而忽视了更大的战略问题。
用法提示:picayune 修饰 details,强调这些细节微不足道。
His picayune attitude toward tipping annoyed the waitstaff.
他给小费时那种小气的态度让服务员很恼火。
用法提示:picayune 修饰 attitude,形容吝啬、斤斤计较。
作定语,直接放在名词前,多含贬义,指事情或数额微小、不重要。
The committee spent hours on picayune details.
委员会花了几个小时讨论微不足道的细节。
作表语,说明某事物在比较之下显得不重要;可用于 be、seem 等系动词后。
Compared with the overall cost, the extra fee seems picayune.
与总成本相比,这笔额外费用似乎微不足道。
用于“too ... to ...”结构,表示因微不足道而不值得做某事。
The discrepancy was too picayune to worry about.
这个差异太小了,不值得担心。
grammar · medium
易错句子The picayune ant was too small to see without a magnifying glass.
正确表达The tiny ant was too small to see without a magnifying glass.
picayune 指“重要性微不足道、琐碎”,说的是意义而非体积;描述物体物理尺寸小要用 tiny 或 small,用 picayune 修饰蚂蚁属于词义搭配错误。
grammar · medium
易错句子These complaints are picayunes.
正确表达These complaints are picayune.
picayune 只作形容词,作表语时没有复数形式;加 -s 写成 picayunes 是把形容词误当可数名词,中文学习者常因汉语“琐事”是名词而发生这种词性混淆。
petty 常暗示因小气、计较或怨气而抓住小事不放;picayune 更侧重事情、细节或金额本身微不足道。若只是客观说“不重要”,trivial 更中性;说“琐碎且带小气意味”时用 petty 更贴切。
trivial 是表示“不重要”的通用中性词,适用于差异、问题、细节等;picayune 更偏口语,且常带“琐碎到近乎小气或过分讲究”的色彩。正式或中性陈述中通常选 trivial。
paltry 强调数量少得不够或令人轻视,多用于钱、报酬、数目;picayune 也可指金额小,但更常指事情琐碎、不重要。谈“给得太少”时 paltry 更自然。
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