poor relation
something or someone similar to but less important than another thing or person, and that people do not consider equally valuable:
The air force and navy were modernized but the army, very much the poor relation, was not.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
People of little importance
- a cog in a/the machine idiom
- be past your sell-by date idiom
- cannon fodder
- cipher
- inferior
- lightweight
- mediocrity
- minnow
- nothing
- past
- pawn
- pipsqueak
- plaything
- poor
- pygmy
- small fry
- waste
- waste of space idiom
- waster
- worm
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Things of little importance