Crossword clues for pissant
pissant
The Collaborative International Dictionary
pissant \piss"ant`\, a. Worthless or of no significance. [vulgar]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1660s, "an ant," from first element of pismire (q.v.) + ant. Meaning "contemptible, insignificant person" is from 1903.\n\n"[B]y sun-down [the gals] come pourin out of the woods like pissants out of an old log when tother end's afire."
["Dick Harlan's Tennessee Frolic," in collection "A Quarter Race in Kentucky," Philadelphia, 1846]
Wiktionary
a. Insignificant or unimportant. n. 1 (context dated outside dialects English) An ant. 2 (context pejorative English) An insignificant person. 3 (context pejorative English) A person who adheres strictly to a rule or policy despite current circumstances. 4 (context pejorative English) A person seemingly incapable of focusing on anything but the trivial, especially in the sense of trivial or irrelevant criticism.
Wikipedia
A pissant, also seen as piss ant or piss-ant, refers to a specific type of ant. The word is also used as a pejorative noun or adjective, indicating insignificance. It has its origin in the word pismire, a 14th-century term for ant.
The original pissant is any of a certain group of large ant species, commonly called wood ants, that make mounded nests in forests throughout most of Europe. The name pissant arises from the urine-like odour produced by their nesting material—needles and straw from pine trees—and the formic acid that constitutes their venom. Formica rufa is one such ant, but there are others with similar characteristics. Forelius and Iridomyrmex are two genera of piss ants. In the United States, the word pissant can refer to any small ant that infests a home.
Usage examples of "pissant".
How was it, Pissant wondered, that the yellow desert had shrunk so much in so short a time?
Pissant of the Alumni Center, and Wilson himself looked like a compilation of the worst traits of every rich old alumnus Pissant had ever met.
Wilson was looking grimly at Pissant, all pleasantness gone from his face.
Wracker sat on the edge of the desk and stared at the physicist for what seemed to Pissant to be an awfully long time.
The Music, eventually carried Pissant around the square to the opposite side of the fountain.
There was the sound of a swollen wooden door being pulled free from a doorjamb, and then Pissant was gently pushed.
To Pissant, the combination smelled astonishingly like a sweet perfume.
And after the splintered pieces had fallen to the grimy floor, Pissant had looked up and seen Pinocchio standing in the hallway.
Blocking Pissant from reaching any of the bottles, the gnome carefully poured an inch of amber fluid into one of the plastic glasses.
The plaid sport coat flapped open and shut, open and shut, giving Pissant quick glimpses of the shirt underneath.
Missouri kicked Pissant in the shin that he knew he had been introduced.
In fact, though, the politician lifted Pissant up onto the eight-inch platform and steered him to the microphone.
Would the politician blame Pissant for what had happened to Pinocchio?
Tycho, put Pissant on the bed, and the physicist collapsed back against the headboard.
Bastard Child nodded, then came closer to Pissant until she was leaning over his face.