small change

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

small change (uncountable)

1. Coins of little value kept in one's pocket or bag.
2. (idiomatic) A minor or insignificant amount of money.

   The cost of toothpaste is small change compared to the cost of dental work.

3. (idiomatic, by extension) A person or thing of little importance or value.
   • 1988 December 14, Vincent Canby, “Movie Review: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 May 2016:

     He's a self-satisfied klutz who aspires to be a con artist. . . . Compared with Lawrence, Freddy is small change.

Usage notes

This idiom can also used in the negative to indicate a great deal of money:

The car he wants costs $38,000, and that's no small change.

Synonyms

• (coins of little value): loose change, spare change, shrapnel (slang)
• (minor or insignificant amount of money): chump change, pocket change
• (person or thing of little importance or value): small potatoes

Translations

a minor or insignificant amount of money

• Arabic: فُرَاطَة f (furāṭa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 零錢／零钱 (zh) (língqián)

• Esperanto: moneroj (eo)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• French: petite monnaie (fr) f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Kleingeld (de) n
• Greek: ψιλά (el) pl (psilá)
• Hungarian: aprópénz (hu)
• Irish: mionairgead m, briseadh airgid m
• Italian: spiccioli (it) pl
• Japanese: 小銭 (ja) (こぜに, kozeni)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: nummulī m pl
• Latvian: sīknauda f
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Manx: argid laue m, argid ullee m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: småpenger pl

  Nynorsk: småpengar pl

• Polish: bilon (pl) m
• Portuguese: trocado (pt) m
• Romanian: mărunțiș (ro) n
• Romansch: munaida f, muneida f, muneda f
• Russian: ме́лочь (ru) f (méločʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: airgead pronn m
• Spanish: cambio (es) m, calderilla f (Spain, specifically coins), chatarra f (Spain, specifically coins), feria f (Northern Mexico), menudo m (Caribbean Islands, Colombian Atlantic Coast, Costa Rica, Southeastern Mexico), morralla f (Mexico, specifically coins), sencillo m (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Northwestern Argentina, Panama, Peru, Southern and Southeastern Mexico, Venezuela), suelto m (Ecuador, Spain, regional usage in Mexico - in full : dinero suelto), vuelto m (Southeastern Mexico)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can