noun
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a petty formal point arising from a strict interpretation of rules, etc
the case was dismissed on a technicality
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the state or quality of being technical
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technical methods and vocabulary
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of technicality
Explanation
A technicality is a trivial or very small detail. You might consider your scuffed, unpolished shoes to be an unimportant technicality when you're dressing for a job interview. You can use the noun technicality for any small point or detail, but it's most likely to come up in the context of a court trial or a conversation with an attorney. A legal technicality is a small but ultimately important detail of the law. For example, a robbery suspect might have his trial dismissed on a legal technicality if the arresting police officer neglected to show him a search warrant before searching his house.
Vocabulary lists containing technicality
Guts
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It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime
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Just Mercy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When you can’t win on the merits, try a technicality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
“The fiduciary point is the part most people miss, and it sounds like a technicality until it’s your data,” Jeff Judge, CFP at Chesapeake Financial Planners, told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
The classification may sound like a technicality, but it matters because hundreds of exchange-traded funds and mutual funds base their allocations on the index’s classifications.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Even though Elon Musk essentially lost on a technicality, there's a clear signal from the verdict that making lots of money from AI and competing fiercely with rivals is simply business.
From BBC ● May 19, 2026
Three days after it was filed, a state judge in Bluefield took one look at the case and threw it out of court on a technicality.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
“The Fed staff is going to have the chance to educate the incoming chair on some of the technicalities that might have him rethink some of what he’s written,” Shenfeld said.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
It’s also possible that the three judges on Texas’ 15th Court of Appeals won’t say that much about the caliber of the state’s evidence, instead focusing its on procedural technicalities or constitutional questions.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026
Second, because of legislative technicalities, high earners will get an approximately 5.4% haircut on their total itemized deductions.
From Barron's ● Nov. 25, 2025
Those credits cost banks less but come with technicalities that suck up consumers’ time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
Technically, I’m not doing anything wrong, not yet, but if the police stop me—well, let’s just say they have an uncanny ability to make technicalities disappear.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
