Meanings
plural small fries
- informalOne or more children.
After his death in 1950, his widow and a board of trustees who were left with responsibility of running the cranberry plant decided to continue the miniature railway's services to the "small fry", and it opened as usual on December 6, 1951.
1952 August, Austin Edwards, “The Cranberry and Small Fry Line”, in Railway Magazine, page 556 - idiomaticOne or more relatively small and insignificant individuals or things of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
These slot machines are just the small fry. The big games are in the back room.
1 more example
The police did not arrest the drug dealer since he was a small fry compared to his boss.
Synonyms: small potatoes, minnow, nobody, no one · Antonyms: big fish
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne or more relatively small and insignificant individuals or things of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna young person of either sex
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From small + fry, first use appears c. 1577, in the publications of John Dee.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀφύη
- ἀφύη (aphúē)one or more small fish
Dutch klein bier
- klein bierthings or people of little importance
Esperanto nulo
- nulothings or people of little importance
Finnish pikkukala, pikkuväki
- pikkukalaone or more small fish
- pikkuväkione or more children
- pikkutekijäthings or people of little importance
- pikkujuttuthings or people of little importance
French menu fretin
- menu fretinthings or people of little importance
German kleine Fische
- kleine Fischethings or people of little importance
Japanese 雑魚, 雑魚
- 雑魚 (zako)one or more small fish
- 雑魚 (zako)things or people of little importance
Korean 잔챙이, 잔챙이
- 잔챙이 (janchaeng'i)one or more small fish
- 잔챙이 (janchaeng'i)things or people of little importance
Polish błahostka, blotka
- błahostkathings or people of little importance
- blotkathings or people of little importance
- płotkathings or people of little importance
Russian малёк, мелюзга́
- малёк (maljók)one or more small fish
- мелюзга́ (meljuzgá)one or more small fish
- ме́лкая рыбёшка (mélkaja rybjóška)one or more small fish
- ры́бка (rýbka)one or more small fish
- детвора́ (detvorá)one or more children
- мелюзга́ (meljuzgá)one or more children
- ме́лочь (méločʹ)one or more children
- ребяти́шки (rebjatíški)one or more children
- ме́лочь (méločʹ)things or people of little importance
- ме́лкая со́шка (mélkaja sóška)things or people of little importance
- ме́лкая рыбёшка (mélkaja rybjóška)things or people of little importance
Spanish Don Nadie
- Don Nadiethings or people of little importance
Cite this entry
small fry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20fry
“small fry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20fry. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “small fry,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20fry.
Source: small fry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.