peccadillo

English[edit]

From Spanish pecadillo, diminutive form of pecado (“sin”), from Latin peccatum (“sin, error, fault”), from peccō (“I sin, offend”).

peccadillo (plural peccadillos or peccadilloes)

A small flaw or sin.
- 1991, Douglas Coupland, “Celebrities Die”, in Generation X, New York: St. Martin's Press, →OCLC, page 112:
  We tolerate Irene and Phil’s mild racist quirks and planet-destroying peccadilloes (“I could never own any car smaller than my Cutlass Supreme”) because their existence acts as a tranquilizer in an otherwise slightly-out-of-control world.
- 2016 May 19, Gail Collins, “Subtract One Clinton”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:
  The sex scandal issue isn’t really central, since Americans have a long record of voting for the candidates they think can deliver, regardless of private peccadilloes.
A petty offense.
Synonym: veniality
- 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 106:
  When he comes to the prayer, he sometimes does me the honor of personally recommending me to the Lord, advising him that I am a worthy man and begging him to condone my occasional peccadillos.
- 2019, John O’Connell, chapter 56, in Bowie's Bookshelf, →ISBN:
  No sexual peccadillo is left unremarked upon.

small sin or flaw

petty offense