Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of small importance; trivial: synonym: trivial.
- adjective Narrow-minded or ungenerous, especially in trifling matters.
- adjective Of lesser importance or rank; subordinate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Small; little; trifling; trivial; inconsiderable or insignificant; of little account: as, petty payments; a petty quarrel.
- Of minor importance or gravity; not heinous or serious: as, petty trespass; a petty crime.
- Inferior as regards rank, power, capacity, possessions, etc.; not of great importance, standing, or rank: as, a petty prince; a petty proprietor.
- noun A junior scholar in a grammar-school; a little child attending school.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate
- adjective See under
Average . - adjective money expended or received in small items or amounts.
- adjective a subofficer in the navy, as a gunner, etc., corresponding to a noncommissionned officer in the army.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Little ,small ,secondary in rank or importance. - adjective
Insignificant ,trifling , orinconsiderable . - adjective
Narrow-minded ,small-minded .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective inferior in rank or status
- adjective (informal) small and of little importance
- noun larceny of property having a value less than some amount (the amount varies by locale)
- adjective contemptibly narrow in outlook
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Which of us, in fact, has the force of character to be superior to petty vanity, to _petty fine feelings_, sympathy and self-reproach? ...
The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Stories Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev 1850
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As Democratic presidential frontrunners Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton got personal in last night's debate, John Edwards said he tried to stay away from what he called petty bickering.
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HENRY: The clarification came after Maliki lashed out at what he called petty politics from the American administration.
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HENRY: The clarification came after Maliki lashed out at what he called petty politics from the American administration.
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HENRY: The clarification came after Maliki lashed out at what he called petty politics from the American administration.
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SHEINDLIN: Yes oh, yes, child is bitten by a dog, the child -- sometimes children get involved in -- what I call petty crime vandalism, and the neighbor will sue the parents to replace the property that the children destroyed.
CNN Transcript - Larry King Live: Judge Judy Lays Down the Law - February 18, 2000 2000
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Baqwa said every individual was capable of casting aside what he called petty differences and to help rid the country of lawlessness and violence.
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Only a disgusting selfish inhuman being with total lack of compassion or sense of right and wrong would use the Haiti earthquake in petty political attacks against President Obama
Think Progress » Beck: Obama is ‘dividing the nation’ by reacting ‘so rapidly to Haiti.’ 2010
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I agree that the crashers should have been charged had they been caught in fraganti but it would be very petty from the service to charge them now after no harm was done.
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Police are security services and should not engage in petty politicking and certainly shouldn't be so easily offended.
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