small fryn.adj.
/ˈsmɔːl frʌɪ/, U.S. /ˈsmɔl ˌfraɪ/, /ˈsmɑl ˌfraɪ/ A. n. Usually as a mass noun.
1. Small fish or other small aquatic animals, esp. young fish when they appear in large numbers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > [noun] > young > collective
brood1389
fry1389
menise?c1425
small fry1577
minutes1598
foul1765
fish-fry1951
1577 J. Dee Gen. Mem. Arte Nauig. 44 Euery one of the sayd 30 Trink-Boat Nets, euery day, only for 300, dayes, in euery whole yere, destroy, but one Bushell of very small Fry.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi viii. §1. 386 When the Pearl-fish gapeth wide, she hath a curious glistering within her shell, by which she allureth the small fry to come swimming into her.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xvi. 465 This small Fry I take to be the top of their Fishery: they have no Instruments to catch great Fish.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity i, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 401 Of fishes next..From the small fry that glide on Jordan's stream..To that Leviathan.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. vii. 161 A lake..which..swarmed with small fry.
1873 G. C. Davies Mountain, Meadow & Mere xiii. 101 One of the small fry..is hopping about on the grass.
1931 Boys' Life May 40/3 He dines on shrimp, squid, sea-urchins, and other small fry.
2000 C. DeVito & G. Skomal Everything Trop. Fish Bk. vi. 218 Many a small fry has been sucked down under the gravel or lost in a box or power filter.
2. In extended use.
a. Comparatively small or insignificant things.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > that which is unimportant > of less importance
lessOE
small fry1647
1647 R. Baron Εροτοπαιγνιον ii. 18 Leda's windes shall forsake their orbes, or Serpentarius disert his small fry of twinisling [sic] starrs,..ere I'le harbour dishonourable thoughts of Clorinda.
a1797 H. Walpole in Ogilvie's Imperial Dict. (1886) We have burned two frigates, and a hundred and twenty small fry.
1822 Monthly Rev. Dec. 403 Propositions [sic], adverbs, conjunctions, or other monosyllabic ‘small fry’ of language.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany iv. 38 Having sold his eggs, rags, and other small fry.
1930 J. H. Jeans Universe around Us (ed. 2) iv. 248 Generally speaking, all the small fry of the solar system move in swarms.
2004 Vanity Fair May 291/3 That group of diplomatic small fry consisted of Pakistan, Chile, Mexico, Cameroon, Guinea, and Angola.
b. Young or unimportant persons (collectively or in a body); a crowd of such persons.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > of little importance > collectively
littleOE
frya1577
small fry1652
potato1757
small beer1777
1652 R. Fanshawe tr. Horace in Sel. Parts Horace sig. F4 His chast Wife's kiss, and his small Fry Of Babes, he's said to have put by.
1794 R. Cumberland Box-lobby Challenge i. ii. 12 It's high time for the old families to look about 'em; a true Grampus must not let the small fry get over his head.
1817 New Monthly Mag. Sept. 102/1 The tremendous rioters.., including the Watsons and the small fry who accompanied the flags through the city.
1885 J. Payn Talk of Town II. 99 Compared with him [sc. Sheridan], all other managers were small fry.
1921 Amer. Woman Jan. 8/4 He retraced his steps, and gathering all the small fry of the place about his heels started an epical voyage from one ice-cream parlor to another.
1970 Boys' Life June 34 Keep an eye on small fry who are using inflatable toys to keep afloat.
2001 T. Parsons One for my Baby i. 18 She had dinner in the China Club surrounded by big shots. I had Tsingtao in Lan Kwai Fong surrounded by my fellow small fry.
c. In predicative use, with singular subject: insignificant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > [noun] > instance of
non-significant1605
nonsense1650
insignificancy1651
mean-nothing1654
insignificant1816
unmeaningness1864
phlizz1889
small fry1893
1893 U.S. Catholic Hist. Mag. 4 276 Harrison on Inauguration day was small fry alongside of that proud black boy.
1910 Amer. Mag. Dec. 147/1 But she was small-fry, and the company probably did not waste much thought on her or her affairs.
1997 Daily Mail 27 Mar. 62/4 The idea of a grand piano being stolen may seem outlandish but is small fry in relation to some of the more extraordinary items that have been stolen over the years.
2005 C. Cleave Incendiary 214 You're small fry. They'll probably just threaten you.
B. adj. (attributive).
Minor, unimportant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective]
toyous1581
unpregnant1604
unconcerning1612
immomenta1616
importlessa1616
nothinga1616
unmomentary1624
unimportingc1625
unessential1634
matterlessa1650
inconcerning1650
nugacious1652
of good, bad, etc., consequence1654
immomentary1662
immomentous1726
unmomentous1735
unimportant1750
unconsequential1769
inconsequential1782
nothingless1822
small fry1828
uninterest1890
non-entitious1952
nothingburger1965
1828 Louisville Public Advertiser 20 Feb. We have roused the ire of one of the ‘small fry lawyers’ of Indiana.
1874 ‘M. Twain’ in Altantic Monthly Nov. 592/2 Dey wa'n't no small-fry officers, mine you; dey was de biggest dey is.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 544 Alarm, excitement, fear, fright, and all those small-fry emotions.
a1960 R. Wright Lawd Today! (1963) iii. i. 168 There were gamblers, pimps..smallfry politicians.
2009 I. Thomson Dead Yard xx. 274 Shields was not worried by the small-fry Jamaican criminals.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1577