hairsplitting

American  

[hair-split-ing] / ˈhɛərˌsplɪt ɪŋ /

noun

1. the making of unnecessarily fine distinctions.

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adjective

1. characterized by such distinctions.

   the hairsplitting arguments of a political debate.

   Synonyms:

   captious, niggling, quibbling

hairsplitting British  

/ ˈhɛəˌsplɪtɪŋ /

noun

1. the making of petty distinctions

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adjective

1. occupied with or based on petty distinctions

Other Word Forms

• hairsplitter
  noun

Etymology

Origin of hairsplitting

First recorded in 1820–30; hair + splitting

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hairsplitting

But Oedipus is in no mood for academic hairsplitting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025

This may sound like hairsplitting, but when it comes to Verdi’s longest opera, less is less, even with a strong cast like the Met’s for this revival.

From New York Times ● Nov. 4, 2022

Instead of transparency, however, Mr. Hogan dissembled, backed by a Greek chorus of question-dodging, hairsplitting, fast-talking officials in his administration.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2020

This is a strange time to be debating the merits of truth in journalism on the stage—and it is journalism that John is practicing here, regardless of his genre hairsplitting.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 22, 2018

And her father, who now knew from Weir the story of the happening of thirty years before, assured her that she need be troubled over no moral hairsplitting.

From In the Shadow of the Hills by Shedd, George C. (George Clifford)