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.

Origin of petty

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

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

Synonyms for petty

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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.

Antonyms for petty

1. important. 4. generous.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pettiness

smallness, paltriness, silliness, triviality, negligibility

Examples from the Web for pettiness

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of pettiness

Nothing but our own pinchbeck ideas could ascribe to Him this pettiness.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
Round me there is naught but weakness, hypocrisy, pettiness.
Secret Memoirs: The Story of Louise, Crown Princess
Henry W. Fischer
I wish to be thought exclusive, yet I condemn the pettiness of my ambition.
Robert Orange
John Oliver Hobbes
Then, indeed, was no restraint or pettiness; then men were hard and firm and strong.
The Hero
William Somerset Maugham
And James was horrified at the pettiness and the prejudice which he found in his home.
The Hero
William Somerset Maugham

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.