technicality

[ tek-ni-kal-i-tee ]

/ ˌtɛk nɪˈkæl ɪ ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR technicality ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural tech·ni·cal·i·ties for 2, 3.

technical character.

the use of technical methods or terms.

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

RELATED WORDS

formality

Nearby words

Origin of technicality

First recorded in 1805–15; technical + -ity

Related formshy·per·tech·ni·cal·i·ty, nouno·ver·tech·ni·cal·i·ty, noun, plural o·ver·tech·ni·cal·i·ties.

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

Examples from the Web for technicality

It will not be your legal responsibility, but you're simply winning on a technicality.
Whatever You Do Someone Will Die. A Short Story About Impossible Choices in Iraq|Nathan Bradley Bethea|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was arrested, tried and, thanks to a technicality, acquitted.
Nigeria’s Larger-Than-Life Nobel Laureate Chronicles a Fascinating Life|Chimamanda Adichie|August 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The case was tossed out the following year on a technicality.
ESPN: The Worldwide Leader in Pricks|Marlow Stern|July 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The effect would be to knock down California's gay-marriage ban on a technicality, without affecting the rest of the country.
Will the Supreme Court Dodge a Big Marriage Equality Decision?|David Frum|March 27, 2013|DAILY BEAST

I said “Britcom” earlier; Father Ted is only that on a technicality.
Father Ted: Comedy as Liberation|Tom Doran|March 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Technicality is as little consonant with the one as with the other.
History of the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of The United States|Edmund G. Ross
Even if the Cubs had claimed it on a technicality, even if we had really won the pennant once, that game had to be played now.
Pitching in a Pinch|Christy Mathewson
I still think Jimmie Time and Boogles were beating the law—on a technicality.
Somewhere in Red Gap|Harry Leon Wilson
This I cal186l the Apology of technicality inspired by tyranny.
Charles Sumner; his complete works, volume 5 (of 20)|Charles Sumner
She slid into the silence with a technicality, asking if John still took his old inordinate amount of sugar.
Tales and Fantasies|Robert Louis Stevenson

British Dictionary definitions for technicality

technicality

/ (ˌtɛknɪˈkælɪtɪ) /

noun plural -ties

a petty formal point arising from a strict interpretation of rules, etcthe case was dismissed on a technicality

the state or quality of being technical

technical methods and vocabulary

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 technicality

technicality

1814, from technical + -ity. Related: Technicalities.