peccadillo

plural peccadillos · plural peccadilloes

1. A small flaw or sin.

   The sex scandal issue isn’t really central, since Americans have a long record of voting for the candidates they think can deliver, regardless of private peccadilloes.

   2016 May 19, Gail Collins, “Subtract One Clinton”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   1 more example

   We tolerate Irene and Phil’s mild racist quirks and planet-destroying peccadilloes (“I could never own any car smaller than my Cutlass Supreme”) because their existence acts as a tranquilizer in an otherwise slightly-out-of-control world.

   1991, Douglas Coupland, “Celebrities Die”, in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN, page 112

   Synonyms: fault, glitch, imperfection, quirk

2. A petty offense.

   No sexual peccadillo is left unremarked upon.

   2019, John O’Connell, chapter 56, in Bowie's Bookshelf, →ISBN

   1 more example

   When he comes to the prayer, he sometimes does me the honor of personally recommending me to the Lord, advising him that I am a worthy man and begging him to condone my occasional peccadillos.

   1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 106

   Synonyms: transgression, veniality, wrongdoing, crime, delict, delinquency, error, malfeasance