as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
there's only a piddly difference in price between the two paintings, so take whichever you prefer
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of piddly
This stole the top spot from 1993, with its piddly 76 days over 100.
—
Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 21 Dec. 2024
Online savings accounts have proliferated in recent years, offering higher yields than the piddly rates attached to ordinary savings accounts, which are less than 0.1%, on average.
—Ryan Dezember, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
Byrne is still a United States congressman and that’s no piddly thing.
—Kyle Whitmire, al, 7 Nov. 2019
This information isn't written in the controller's piddly instruction manual.
—Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 16 Nov. 2018
After Kilauea's 1924 summit explosions, the volcano entered a decade of piddly rumblings, followed by 18 years of silence.
—Sophia Yan and Malcolm Ritter, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 June 2018
But sometimes self-denial is its own form of power, as you are no doubt noticing, crammed into that piddly apartment.
—Helaine Olen, Slate Magazine, 25 Jan. 2017
Adding an additional 23,000 km is really a piddly amount.
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 21 Sep. 2010
Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 21 Dec. 2024
Online savings accounts have proliferated in recent years, offering higher yields than the piddly rates attached to ordinary savings accounts, which are less than 0.1%, on average.
—Ryan Dezember, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
Byrne is still a United States congressman and that’s no piddly thing.
—Kyle Whitmire, al, 7 Nov. 2019
This information isn't written in the controller's piddly instruction manual.
—Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 16 Nov. 2018
After Kilauea's 1924 summit explosions, the volcano entered a decade of piddly rumblings, followed by 18 years of silence.
—Sophia Yan and Malcolm Ritter, The Christian Science Monitor, 7 June 2018
But sometimes self-denial is its own form of power, as you are no doubt noticing, crammed into that piddly apartment.
—Helaine Olen, Slate Magazine, 25 Jan. 2017
Adding an additional 23,000 km is really a piddly amount.
—Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 21 Sep. 2010
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piddly
Adjective
-
Maresca’s midfield featured Moises Caicedo, nominal full-back Malo Gusto, and Enzo Fernandez operating higher than usual in Palmer’s absence.—
Cerys Jones,
New York Times,
15 Oct. 2025
-
Drake sought nominal, compensatory, and punitive damages, plus legal fees.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Return with a slight counter-rotation and complete more reps as desired.—
Jakob Roze,
Health,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Looking ahead to 2026, Coke is projecting a slight tail wind to both its revenue and comparable earnings from currency fluctuations.—
Amelia Lucas,
CNBC,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Earth, a tiny target in the vastness of space, would often be spared from being hit by these magnetic projectiles.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Oct. 2025
-
Sometimes changing the world starts with a tiny needle.—
Barbara Bry,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
But, God, to be able to play a Pablo Escobar who was just petty and wanted friends, there was something so stupid and so hilarious about that to me.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Oct. 2025
-
These can be petty but hard to avoid today.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.—
Star Tribune,
Star Tribune,
3 Dec. 2020
-
Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling.—
Patricia Cohen,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2020
Adjective
-
Visceral and tactile, the piece quietly establishes a visual language out of small seemingly insignificant moments that through subtle transformation become impactful expressions of grief and loss.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Small, seemingly insignificant times like that became the foundation of our connection.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
15 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Maybe autocracy starts with something as trivial as this.—
John M. Crisp,
Twin Cities,
22 Oct. 2025
-
The trivial things become the big things because the big things have gone away.—
Essence,
Essence,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, independent artists have spent years expressing their frustrations with the paltry payouts of most DSPs.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
10 Oct. 2025
-
But those refunds were relatively paltry.—
Erin Doherty,
CNBC,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Piddly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piddly. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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