petty

[pet-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR petty ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, pet·ti·er, pet·ti·est.

of little or no importance or consequence: petty grievances.

of lesser or secondary importance, merit, etc.; minor: petty considerations.

having or showing narrow ideas, interests, etc.: petty minds.

mean or ungenerous in small or trifling things: a petty person.

showing or caused by meanness of spirit: a petty revenge.

of secondary rank, especially in relation to others of the same class or kind: petty states; a petty tyrant.

Nearby words

Origin of petty

1325–75; Middle English peti(t) small, minor < Old French petit < Gallo-Romance *pittīttus, of expressive orig.

SYNONYMS FOR petty

1. nugatory, negligible, inconsiderable, slight. Petty, paltry, trifling, trivial apply to something that is so insignificant as to be almost unworthy of notice. Petty implies contemptible insignificance and littleness, inferiority and small worth: petty quarrels. Paltry is applied to something that is beneath one's notice, even despicable: a paltry amount. Something that is trifling is so unimportant and inconsiderable as to be practically negligible: a trifling error. Something that is trivial is slight, insignificant, and even in incongruous contrast to something that is significant or important: a trivial remark; a trivial task. 3. small. 4. stingy, miserly.

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ANTONYMS FOR petty

1. important. 4. generous.

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Related formspet·ti·ly, adverbpet·ti·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pettiness

Rather, he dishes up a seemingly endless stream of examples of pettiness, irritation, hypocrisy and awkwardness.
Fear And Self-Loathing In Scandinavia: The Fiction Of Karl Ove Knausgaard|Ted Gioia|May 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The pettiness could be no issue—photograph all of your children, rainbows, sunsets, and kittens.
All You Need to Be a Modern Digital Stalker Is a Smartphone|Tauriq Moosa|April 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It represents instead a sorry reflection of the pettiness of current political debate in Washington.
Obama Will Lose Recess Appointment Case, but Will Other Presidents Lose Their Power?|Andrew Cohen|January 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And it makes the pettiness and obstinacy on display in the U.S. over these negotiations all the more unseemly.
Fiscal Cliff Stalemate Needs Two-Party Solution|Daniel Gross|December 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST

It remains the must-have accessory, the absence of it destined to whip up a firestorm of pettiness.
Election Night 2012: Fashion of Jubilation And Mourning|Robin Givhan|November 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In that swamp of pettiness, idiocy, and materialism, a man of your nature could not long abide.
Visionaries|James Huneker
In England he quickly felt the pettiness of the busy Court life, to which he could not accustom himself.
Great Ralegh|Hugh De Selincourt
A giggle is indicative of pettiness, trifling and general mental light-weight.
How to Read Human Nature|William Walker Atkinson
Julien saw nothing in this except the pettiness of spirit of a country bourgeois.
The Red and the Black|Stendhal
Annoyed at their pettiness I removed the diamonds and flowers and all ornaments.
Confessions of an Opera Singer|Kathleen Howard

British Dictionary definitions for pettiness

petty

adjective -tier or -tiest

trivial; trifling; inessentialpetty details

of a narrow-minded, mean, or small-natured disposition or characterpetty spite

minor or subordinate in rankpetty officialdom

law of lesser importance

Derived Formspettily, adverbpettiness, noun

Word Origin for petty

C14: from Old French petit

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pettiness

petty

adj.

late 14c., "small," from phonemic spelling of Old French petit "small" (see petit). In English, not originally disparaging (cf. petty cash, 1834; petty officer, 1570s). Meaning "of small importance" is recorded from 1520s; that of "small-minded" is from 1580s. Related: Pettily; pettiness. An old name for "Northern Lights" was petty dancers.