insignificancy

An old man dismisses a small scratch on his car door as an insignificancy.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • The state or quality of being insignificant: "insignificancy" refers to the condition of having little or no importance, value, or meaning. It is synonymous with triviality or unimportance.
   • A trivial or unimportant thing or person: "insignificancy" can also denote something or someone that is considered negligible or of little consequence.

Usage Examples

• State or quality:

  • The insignificancy of his contribution was evident in the final report. (His contribution had very little importance.)
  • She felt a sense of insignificancy when surrounded by world leaders. (She felt unimportant or trivial.)

• Trivial thing or person:

  • The small error was an insignificancy in the grand scheme of the project. (The error was a minor, unimportant detail.)
  • He dismissed the critic as an insignificancy, unworthy of attention. (He considered the critic to be a person of no importance.)

Advanced Usage

• "to reduce to insignificancy": to make something seem completely unimportant or negligible.

  • The vast landscape reduced the tiny house to insignificancy. (The house appeared trivial in comparison to the huge surroundings.)

• "a mere insignificancy": used to emphasize that something is very small or trivial.

  • The delay was a mere insignificancy compared to the overall timeline. (The delay was very minor and unimportant.)

Variants and Related Words

• Insignificance (n): a more common synonym for "insignificancy," meaning the quality of being unimportant.

  • The insignificance of the issue became clear after further discussion. (The issue was trivial.)

• Insignificant (adj): having little or no importance.

  • The insignificant detail was overlooked by everyone. (The detail was unimportant.)

• Significance (n): the quality of being important or meaningful (opposite of insignificancy).

  • The significance of her discovery was recognized worldwide. (Her discovery was very important.)

Synonyms

• Triviality: the state of being insignificant or unimportant.
• Unimportance: lack of importance or value.
• Negligibility: the quality of being so small or unimportant as to be disregarded.
• Pettiness: the quality of being trivial or minor.

Phrasal Verbs

• None directly associated with "insignificancy." However, the verb phrase "to dismiss as an insignificancy" is common: to treat something as trivial.
  • He dismissed her concerns as an insignificancy. (He treated her worries as unimportant.)

Related Idioms

• A drop in the bucket: something very small or insignificant in comparison to the whole.

  • The donation was a drop in the bucket compared to the funds needed. (The donation was an insignificancy.)

• Small potatoes: something trivial or unimportant.

  • The disagreement was small potatoes in the midst of the crisis. (The disagreement was an insignificancy.)