Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A small sin or fault.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A slight trespass or offense; a petty crime or fault.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A slight trespass or offense; a petty crime; a trifling fault.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a petty misdeed
Etymologies
- Spanish pecadillo, diminutive of pecado, sin, and Italian peccadiglio, diminutive of peccato, sin, both from Latin peccātum, from neuter of peccātus, past participle of peccāre, to sin; see ped- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“They cannot figure out why a sexual peccadillo is given so much attention.”
“When some brave souls pointed out that the peccadillo was a notoriously flightless bird they were hung, drawn and hacked up into bite-sized portions as a precaution.”
“It is an action between friends, just as my silence on the subject of your peccadillo is a friendly action.”
“(Soundbite of laughter) Ms. POUNDSTONE: I don't know, you know, I have a silly peccadillo which is that I call body parts by their names.”
“And how, exactly, do you sugarcoat the following as a "peccadillo":”
“It is not easy to render this term by a short and apt English term; "peccadillo" would come near the meaning.”
Luther Examined and Reexamined A Review of Catholic Criticism and a Plea for Revaluation
“The Times continues to treat communism as a cute campus peccadillo like pot smoking or nude streaking.”
“Nick Clegg's U-turn on student fees is a trivial peccadillo compared with his infinitely more damaging U-turn on public spending.”
The Guardian: The Coalition and the Constitution by Vernon Bogdanor – review
“Unhappy ghosts lurk everywhere in these corridors, waiting to pounce on anyone with a sexual peccadillo or illicit skeleton in their designer closets.”
Matt's Guide to Weekend TV: Fringe, Doctor Who, Dexter and More
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘peccadillo’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Not edible
Things that sound edible but are not (usually). See Liberty's To Eat, or Not to Eat? for more diet food.
cinnabar, dulcimer, belfries, potto, maltha, grapple, loam, rake, tort, pomade, buffalo chip, wedgie and 165 more...
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Ayatollah's list
Trinkets of lexical goodness.
floccinaucinihili..., quomodocunquize, curmudgeon, illaqueate, ipsissimosity, heterochthonous, hakenkreuz, forisfamiliate, appropinquate, apodyopsis, baryphony, cachinnate and 146 more...
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jeffrey.t.whitney's list
sartorial, sabbatarian, sagacious, desiccate, ersatz, insouciant, atavistic, luddite, crwth, obdurate, stentorian, ruminate and 51 more...
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esotericisms
words that make me warm inside
kinemacolour, sardonic, entente, saturnine, ens, ensanguine, causa sui, entelechy, epicheirema, ex post facto, peccadillo, illation and 27 more...
brtom "Rain, exposure at dewfall on the sea rocks, a peccadillo at my time of life." Joyce, Ulysses, 15 Jan 1, 2008