small beer

noun

1

: weak or inferior beer

2

: something of small importance : trivia

small-beer

ˈsmȯl-ˈbir 

adjective

Did you know?

Small beer dates from Shakespeare's day. The Bard didn't coin it (the word has been in use since the 15th century, well before Shakespeare was born), but he did put the term to good use. In Henry VI, Part 2, for example, the rebel Jack Cade declares that, when he becomes king, he will "make it felony to drink small beer." In Othello, Desdemona asks Iago to describe a "deserving woman." Iago responds by listing praises for ten lines, only to conclude that such a woman would be suited "to suckle fools, and chronicle small beer"; in other words, to raise babies and keep track of insignificant household expenses. Desdemona quickly retorts, declaring Iago's assertion a "most lame and impotent conclusion."

Synonyms

• bagatelle
• child's play
• frippery
• nonproblem
• nothing
• picayune
• shuck(s)
• small change
• trifle
• triviality

Examples of small beer in a Sentence

the money we spend on cable is small beer compared to the mortgage payment we have to come up with every month

Recent Examples on the Web

That covers even things like withholding taxes and the administration of those, which sometimes might seem like relatively small beer, but often for some of our members, significant amounts of money. —Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2024

This is small beer for a government committing genocide (according to the U.S. State Department and other bodies). —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 30 July 2024

This includes fresh paint in several places, some new concession stands, a small beer garden, new lights, and perhaps most notably, two new video boards flanking the stage. —Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 3 July 2024

And while goofing around in a theater was fun, the challenge and buzz of playing for knowing audiences was small beer indeed compared to the whole-of-being workout of doing undercover improv on national tv and radio. —Matt Thompson, SPIN, 7 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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