This is the 13135th most frequent Russian word.
мелкий
"Мелкий" means "shallow," "small," or "fine" in English, depending on context.
Here, "мелкий" is used to describe precipitation, signifying its light and soft nature, indicating that the rain isn't heavy.
Мелкий дождик начал моросить.
A light rain started to drizzle.
In this case, "мелкий" is used to describe the size of the apples, meaning that they are small in size.
На рынке мы купили мелких яблок для пирога.
We bought small apples for the pie at the market.
In this sentence, "мелкий" is used metaphorically to describe the insignificance or triviality of the comments.