technicality

American  

[tek-ni-kal-i-tee] / ˌtɛk nɪˈkæl ɪ ti /

noun

• technicalities
  plural

1. technical character.

2. the use of technical methods or terms.

3. something that is technical; a technical point, detail, or expression.

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technicality British  

/ ˌtɛknɪˈkælɪtɪ /

noun

1. a petty formal point arising from a strict interpretation of rules, etc

   the case was dismissed on a technicality

2. the state or quality of being technical

3. technical methods and vocabulary

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hypertechnicality
  noun
• overtechnicality
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• technicalities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of technicality

First recorded in 1805–15; technical + -ity

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

technicality technicalities

He’s trying to get her papers, and there was a technicality in there—she had crossed over and not said it and is getting deported.

From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026

The ruling was based on a technicality: The “hot return” procedure applies to people who force their way through physical barriers, and the court concluded that the sea didn’t meet that definition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 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

I lost the bet on a technicality because examples were produced of solutions with a singularity that was visible from a long way away.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

Sticklers will note that “Roughing It” is supposedly nonfiction, but when was Mark Twain ever bound by technicalities, much less facts?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 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

They hear neighbors complaining about insurance companies denying claims over technicalities or offering payouts that are less than the cost of repair or replacement.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2025

Far from giving up on the “humanitarian” H-bomb, Strauss redoubled his efforts on its behalf in his role of Eisenhower administration spokesman on the technicalities of nuclear policy.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik