small potato

noun

|Updated on: 30 Jul 2018

Definition of small potato

: one that is of trivial importance or worth —usually used in plural but singular or plural in construction

Recent Examples of small potato from the Web

Image Huckleberry Gold is a small potato, golden within a robe of regal purple, that delivers smooth texture and rich flavor.

— florence fabricant, New York Times, "A Western Spud Heads East," 19 June 2018
On a scale from zero to influencing the outcome of the United States presidential election, the Twitter dustup that threatens to engulf 76ers front-office boss Bryan Colangelo is small potatoes indeed.

— bob ford, Philly.com, "Hard to see how Bryan Colangelo survives his Sixers Twittergate | Bob Ford," 30 May 2018
Now that’s no small potatoes, but even more astonishing is that this could be the wettest air mass on record in central California.

— matthew cappucci, Washington Post, "‘Potent’ atmospheric river to bombard central California on Friday and Saturday," 5 Apr. 2018
This method works well with nearly all small potatoes – from little red potatoes to fingerlings.

— jeanmarie brownson, charlotteobserver, "Control the heat to grill the perfect steak," 26 June 2018
Compared to Hanoi and Prague, the Miss America contest that took place in Atlantic City in September 1968 may seem like small potatoes.

— alan wolfe, The New Republic, "A Most Violent Year," 18 May 2018
That’s small potatoes in a $3 trillion annual federal budget.

— alex theodoridis, Washington Post, "Trump just praised earmarks. Here's what the fuss is about.," 12 Jan. 2018
That’s small potatoes compared to, say, beauty or gaming influencers boasting tens of millions of followers.

— erin griffith, WIRED, "The Hustlers Fueling Cryptocurrency’s Marketing Machine," 12 June 2018
In light of the financial industry scandals that followed, the Keating one was small potatoes.

— elizabeth drew, The New Republic, "The John McCain I Know," 1 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'small potato.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.