Meanings
- uncountableCoins of little value kept in one's pocket or bag, ready for small purchases.
Holonyms: pocket money, spending money, walk-around money, walking-around money; pin money
Synonyms: pocket change, loose change, spare change, pocket shrapnel, shrapnel, loose change, pennies, red cents
- idiomaticuncountableA minor or insignificant amount of money.
The cost of toothpaste is small change compared to the cost of dental work.
1 more example
'Cousin Tom,' said mother, and trying to get so that Annie and I could not hear her; 'it would be a sad and unkinlike thing for you to despise our dwelling-house. We cannot entertain you, as the lordly inns on the road do; and we have small change of victuals.
1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter XI, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLCSynonyms: pocket change, loose change, spare change, chump change, pittance, coffee money
- broadlyidiomaticuncountableA person or thing of little importance or value.
He's a self-satisfied klutz who aspires to be a con artist. . . . Compared with Lawrence, Freddy is small change.
1988 December 14, Vincent Canby, “Movie Review: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”, in New York Times, retrieved 25 May 2016Synonyms: small-timer, small fry, small potatoes, nobody
Synonyms & antonyms
nounCoins of little value kept in one's pocket or bag, ready for small purchases.
nounA minor or insignificant amount of money.
nounA person or thing of little importance or value.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic فُرَاطَة
- فُرَاطَة (furāṭa)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Bulgarian дре́бни, стоти́нки
- дре́бни (drébni)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- стоти́нки (stotínki)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- ма́лко пари́ (málko parí)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Chinese Mandarin 零錢 /零钱, 輔幣 /辅币
- 零錢 /零钱 (língqián)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- 輔幣 /辅币 (fǔbì)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Esperanto moneroj
- moneroja minor or insignificant amount of money
French petite monnaie
- petite monnaiea minor or insignificant amount of money
German Kleingeld
- Kleingelda minor or insignificant amount of money
Greek ψιλά
- ψιλά (psilá)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Hindi छुट्टा
- छुट्टा (chuṭṭā)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Hungarian aprópénz
- aprópénza minor or insignificant amount of money
Indonesian uang receh
- uang receha minor or insignificant amount of money
Irish mionairgead, briseadh airgid
- mionairgeada minor or insignificant amount of money
- briseadh airgida minor or insignificant amount of money
Italian spiccioli
- spicciolia minor or insignificant amount of money
Japanese お釣り, 釣り銭
- お釣り (o-tsuri)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- 釣り銭 (tsurisen)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- 小銭 (kozeni)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Korean 잔돈, 거스름돈
- 잔돈 (jandon)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- 거스름돈 (geoseureumdon)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Latin nummulī
- nummulīa minor or insignificant amount of money
Latvian sīknauda
- sīknaudaa minor or insignificant amount of money
Norwegian Bokmål småpenger
- småpengera minor or insignificant amount of money
Polish bilon, drobne
- bilona minor or insignificant amount of money
- drobnea minor or insignificant amount of money
Portuguese trocado
- trocadoa minor or insignificant amount of money
Romanian mărunțiș
- mărunțișa minor or insignificant amount of money
Russian ме́лкие де́ньги, ме́лочь
- ме́лкие де́ньги (mélkije dénʹgi)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- ме́лочь (méločʹ)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Scottish Gaelic airgead pronn
- airgead pronna minor or insignificant amount of money
Spanish feria, menudo
- feriaa minor or insignificant amount of money
- menudoa minor or insignificant amount of money
- sencilloa minor or insignificant amount of money
- sencillitoa minor or insignificant amount of money
- calderillaa minor or insignificant amount of money
- chatarraa minor or insignificant amount of money
- morrallaa minor or insignificant amount of money
- (dinero) sueltoa minor or insignificant amount of money
Tagalog sukli
- suklia minor or insignificant amount of money
Tamil சில்லறை
- சில்லறை (cillaṟai)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Ukrainian дрібні́ гро́ші, дрібняки́
- дрібні́ гро́ші (dribní hróši)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- дрібняки́ (dribnjaký)a minor or insignificant amount of money
- дрібні́ (dribní)a minor or insignificant amount of money
Cite this entry
small change. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20change
“small change.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20change. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “small change,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20change.
Source: small change on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.