Definition

1. 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

1. a young person of either sex
   • she writes books for children
   • they're just kids
   • `tiddler' is a British term for youngster
2. someone who is small and insignificant