small fry
/'smɔ:l'frai/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A young person, especially a child: "Small fry" can refer to a young person of either sex, often implying youth or immaturity.
- Someone or something considered insignificant or unimportant: "Small fry" also denotes a person or thing of little importance, influence, or power.
Examples of Usage
- Noun:
- The playground was full of small fry running around. (The playground was full of young children running around.)
- In the corporate world, he was still considered small fry. (In the corporate world, he was still considered an unimportant person.)
- The police are after the big criminals, not the small fry. (The police are after the major criminals, not the insignificant ones.)
Advanced Usage
- "to be small fry": to be an unimportant or minor person or thing within a larger context.
- Compared to the multinational corporations, our company is just small fry. (Compared to the multinational corporations, our company is just insignificant.)
- Used collectively to refer to a group of unimportant people or things.
- The investigation focused on the leaders, ignoring the small fry. (The investigation focused on the leaders, ignoring the minor participants.)
Variants and Related Words
- Tiddler (noun, chiefly British): a small child or a small fish; a synonym for a young child in this context.
- The tiddlers were playing in the sandpit. (The small children were playing in the sandpit.)
- Minor (noun/adjective): a person under legal age or something of lesser importance.
- Lightweight (noun, informal): a person of little importance or influence.
Synonyms
- Child: a young human being.
- Youngster: a young person.
- Nobody: an unimportant person.
- Nonentity: an unimportant person or thing.
Related Phrases
- Small potatoes (idiom, informal): someone or something insignificant.
- Don't worry about his criticism; he's small potatoes. (Don't worry about his criticism; he's an insignificant person.)
Related Idioms
- "Don't sweat the small fry": A variation of "Don't sweat the small stuff," advising not to worry about trivial or insignificant matters.
- We have bigger problems to solve, so don't sweat the small fry. (We have bigger problems to solve, so don't worry about the insignificant details.)
Noun
- a young person of either sex
- she writes books for children
- they're just kids
- `tiddler' is a British term for youngster
- someone who is small and insignificant