nothing to speak of - Glite Dictionary

Examples

And before that, I worked in and out of advertising, nothing to speak of, for about five years.

Lost in America (1985)
The food at the restaurant was nothing to speak of, just average dishes that I could make at home.
There's nothing to speak of.

Ben-Hur (2016)
We understand nothing to speak of, of the universe, nothing to speak of except some of these broad gestures, right?
Until the left can put up many more examples of Obama being threatened (which I hope does not happen), they have nothing to speak of, and it pisses them off.

Blog text (1)
The movie was nothing to speak of; I expected much more from the reviews.
Her presentation was nothing to speak of; it lacked depth and engagement.

Synonyms

trivial

vsnothing to speak of

121 3.9

Not important or serious

is a colloquial phrase used to downplay importance rather than formal label

insignificant

vsnothing to speak of

104 4.1

Not important or too small to matter

is an idiomatic phrase used to dismiss importance briefly

unimportant

vsnothing to speak of

54 1.9

Not worth attention or notice

expresses the same dismissive idea using informal phrasing

negligible

vsnothing to speak of

31 5.6

Very small or unimportant and not worth worrying about

focuses on general lack of importance rather than specific small amount

triviality

vsnothing to speak of

6 5.4

A small detail that does not matter

refers conversationally to lack of importance rather than naming the quality itself

nothing to see here

vsnothing to speak of

Informal

4 7.4

A phrase people say to tell others nothing interesting or worrying is happening

is a general way to say something is insignificant, not only to divert attention

mere trifle

vsnothing to speak of

1 4.0

A small thing that is not important

is a casual dismissive phrase used instead of saying it is not important

piffling

vsnothing to speak of

1 8.6

Too small or not important to matter

is more neutral and used conversationally rather than strongly dismissing it

matterless

vsnothing to speak of

7.9

Not important or worth worrying about

uses a casual phrase to downplay importance rather than state it has no value

not worth writing home about

vsnothing to speak of

Informal

7.0

Not very good or special

downplays general importance rather than only lack of impressiveness

Antonyms

significant

∞ 2.5

Important and big enough to make a difference

notable

112 3.7

Worth attention because it is important or unusual

How Significant

major

∞ 1.0

significant

∞ 2.5

noticeable

65 3.2

minor

600 2.4

nothing to speak of

1 6.1

nonexistent

52 4.8

Surface Forms

nothing to speak of main

Morphology

nothing + to + speak + of

The phrase 'to speak of' can be understood as 'to mention' or 'to say about', so 'nothing to speak of' compositely means 'nothing worth mentioning' or 'insignificant'. This is a regular, compositional pattern (nothing + to-infinitive phrase) that a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will likely be able to infer.

Etymology

The phrase nothing to speak of comes from the simple scene of someone asking about something and the answer showing there is nothing worth saying, and to speak of means 'to talk about'. So it now means 'not important' or 'too small to notice'.