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

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Etymology

Origin of hairsplitting

First recorded in 1820–30; hair + splitting

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hairsplitting

But Oedipus is in no mood for academic hairsplitting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025

These arguably hairsplitting thoughts nagged at me thanks to my job as a congressional correspondent focused on federal spending.

From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2024

Now comes another occasion for jurisprudential hairsplitting about contacts between the government and religious schools.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 16, 2021

They generally involve rephrasing the accusation, then issuing a very narrowly-crafted and hairsplitting denial, while avoiding the central claim.

From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2019

Though dry and devoted to hairsplitting as orthodoxy no doubt was, it probably was not quite as lifeless as later generations represent it to have been.

From Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark by J. C. (Jens Christian) Aaberg

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