pissant

(redirected from pissants)
Also found in: Idioms.

Related to pissants: pismire

piss·ant

also piss-ant (pĭs′ănt′)Slang

1. One that is insignificant.

2. Obsolete An ant.

adj.

Not important; insignificant: "Some pissant Texas court wants to make [the company] pay ... more than $10 billion in reparations" (New Republic).

[Modeled on pismire.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pissant

(ˈpɪsænt)

an insignificant or contemptible person

adj

insignificant or contemptible

[C17: from piss + ant]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive ?

(10) See Robin Creyke, 'The Impact of Judicial Review on Tribunals--Recent Developments' (Paper presented at the Fifth Annual AIJA Tribunals Conference, Melbourne, 6-7 June 2002); Robin Creyke and John McMillan, Control of Government Action: Text, Cases and Commentary (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2nd ed, 2009) 986-9; Mark Aronson, Bruce Dyer and Matthew Groves, Judicial Review of Administrative Action (Lawbook, 4th ed, 2009) 296-305; Roger Douglas, Douglas and Jones's Administrative Law (Federation Press, 5th ed, 2006) 466-71; Vincenzo Salvatore Paparo, 'Review of Collegiate Decisions: Judicial Protection for "Pissants'" (2005) 47 AIAL Forum 65, 70-1.