petty

[Pet·ty]

Petty used to mean just "petite" or "small," but now it's used for things that are trivial and shouldn’t matter much. If you host world leaders and spend more time picking napkins than memorizing names, you're focused on petty things.

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Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; a petty prince.

Adjective S.
contemptibly narrow in outlook; "petty little comments"; "disgusted with their small-minded pettiness"

Adjective S.
(informal terms) small and of little importance; "a fiddling sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "Mickey Mouse regulations"; "a dispute over nig


superl.
Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; a petty prince.


Petty

Pet"ty , a. [Compar. Pettier ; superl. Pettiest.] [OE. petit, F. petit; probably of Celtic origin, and akin to E. piece. Cf. Petit.] Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; a petty prince. Denham.
Like a petty god I walked about, admired of all.
Petty averages. See under Average. -- Petty cash, money expended or received in small items or amounts. -- Petty officer, a subofficer in the navy, as a gunner, etc., corresponding to a noncommissionned officer in the army. &hand; For petty constable, petty jury, petty larceny, petty treason, See Petit. Syn. -- Little; diminutive; inconsiderable; inferior; trifling; trivial; unimportant; frivolous.

Pettychaps

Pet"ty*chaps , n. (Zo'94l.) Any one of several species of small European singing birds of the subfamily Sylviin'91, as the willow warbler, the chiff-chaff, and the golden warbler (Sylvia hortensis).

Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; a petty prince.

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Usage Examples

Hunger, revenge, to sleep are petty foes, But only death the jealous eyes can close.

Don't be afraid of failure be afraid of petty success.

A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life.

It is better to lose everything you have to keep the balance of justice level, than to live a life of petty privilege devoid of true freedom.

It is not true that suffering ennobles the character happiness does that sometimes, but suffering for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive.

If you look at things that really affect people's lives - sport, the arts, charities - they were always at the back of the queue for government money - health, social security, defence, pensions were all way ahead. And each of those areas - sports, the arts, the lottery - got relatively petty cash from the government.

I've found men are less likely to let petty things annoy them.

Deceit is the game of petty spirits, and that is by nature a woman's quality.

Misspelled Form

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Other Usage Examples

Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

I did not resign from politics because of Bofors. I resigned because I do not know how to play petty politics. I did not know back then and I don't know now either.

I don't want to be a politician. I don't like politics. It's petty it fights dirty.

If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.

I have very little respect for Nancy Reagan. There is something about her that is very petty.

A petty reason perhaps why novelists more and more try to keep a distance from journalists is that novelists are trying to write the truth and journalists are trying to write fiction.

Great wisdom is generous petty wisdom is contentious.

Great wisdom is generous petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous.

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