Meanings
- idiomaticpluralplural onlyOne or more persons or things of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
My paycheck is small potatoes compared to hers.
3 more examples
He no longer works for individuals, since they are small potatoes compared to his corporate clients.
It's small potatoes for a man-o-war to be hunting poor game, like us little fore and afters."
1855, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, “Unlocking a Woman's Heart”, in Nature and Human Nature, volume 1, page 38The queen may have outwitted Otto, but he’s small potatoes compared to a master opponent like the Lady of Driftmark.
2022 October 16, Jenna Scherer, “An enticing House Of The Dragon crowns Westeros' new ruler”, in AV ClubSynonyms: peanuts, small beer, small fry, nobody, no one
Synonyms & antonyms
nounOne or more persons or things of relatively little consequence, importance, or value.
Origin
A specialization of a sense of potato meaning a thing of little value, and a comment on the low value of a small potato in particular, appearing in its modern form in North America in the mid-19th century (see 1855 quotation).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
small potatoes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20potatoes
“small potatoes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20potatoes. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “small potatoes,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20potatoes.
Source: small potatoes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.