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
- From Spanish pecadillo, diminutive form of pecado ("sin"), from Latin peccatum ("sin, error, fault"), from peccō ("I sin, offend"). (Wiktionary)
- 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. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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’.
-
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 4087 more...
-
501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
-
250 Extra Spelling Words
Some more words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
cultellarius, barouche, palanquin, badelaire, cavetto, tregetour, tergiversate, rhododendron, rhadamanthine, thyrsus, cappelletti, bradycardia and 238 more...
-
phrontistery - p
from phrontistery.info
pabouche, pabulous, pabulum, pacable, pace, pachydermia, pachyglossal, pachymeter, pachynsis, paciferous, pacificate, pactolian and 1766 more...
-
501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
-
GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
-
501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
-
501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
-
Ayatollah's list
Trinkets of lexical goodness.
floccinaucinihili..., quomodocunquize, curmudgeon, illaqueate, ipsissimosity, heterochthonous, hakenkreuz, forisfamiliate, appropinquate, apodyopsis, baryphony, cachinnate and 146 more...
-
jeffrey.t.whitney's list
sartorial, sabbatarian, sagacious, desiccate, ersatz, insouciant, atavistic, luddite, crwth, obdurate, stentorian, ruminate and 51 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
-
to memorize
words i need to memorize
aberrant, abscond, advocate, aggrandize, amalgamate, ambiguous, ambrosial, anomalous, antediluvian, antipathy, arbitrate, assuage and 163 more...
-
GRE
pejorative, austere, unconscionable, lissome, edify, winsome, axiom, malinger, abjure, deleterious, contumacious, peregrinate and 152 more...
-
Dan: You read this already. — Your p...
Long ago, I learned a useful habit from a good friend: Every time he looked up a word in his dictionary, he’d put a mark next to it. His explanation for this was vague at best, but I understood a...
dittography, haplology, haplography, idiomology, cacoepy, orthoepist, psellism, pronunciation spe..., galbe, theropod, publican, sciolist and 111 more...
-
ecbrenner's list
flatline, luddism, apocalipstick, muttsucker, leviathan of fore..., flint, coryphaeus, donnybrook, bandwidth, bagpipe the mizen, cheesed off, asterism and 525 more...
-
Advanced Words: Part II
facetious, felicitous, grandiloquent, germane, repatriate, exigency, exculpate, etheral, fatuous, heterogeneous, hiatus, idiosyncrasy and 118 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for peccadillo.
brtom "Rain, exposure at dewfall on the sea rocks, a peccadillo at my time of life." Joyce, Ulysses, 15 Jan 1, 2008