Definition of 'petty'
Word forms: comparative pettier
, superlative pettiest
1. adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun]
You can use petty to describe things such as problems, rules, or arguments which you think are unimportant or relate to unimportant things.
[disapproval]
2. adjective [usually verb-link ADJECTIVE]
3. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
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American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
petty in British English
adjectiveWord forms: -tier, -tiest
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
pettily (ˈpettily) adverb
pettiness (ˈpettiness)
noun
Word origin
C14: from Old French petitWord Frequency
petty in American English
adjectiveWord forms: ˈpettier or ˈpettiest
1.
2.
small-scale; minor
3.
a.
having or showing a tendency to make much of small matters
b.
small-minded; mean, narrow, ungenerous, etc.
4.
relatively low in rank; subordinate
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
pettily (ˈpettily)
adverb
pettiness (ˈpettiness)
noun
Word origin
ME pety < OFr petit < *pit-, little < baby talk
Word Frequency
petty in American English
(ˈpeti)
adjectiveWord forms: -tier, -tiest
SYNONYMS 1. nugatory, negligible, inconsiderable, slight. petty, paltry, trifling, trivial apply to something that is so insignificant as to be almost unworthy of notice. petty implies contemptible insignificance and littleness, inferiority and small worth:
petty quarrels. paltry is applied to something that is beneath one’s notice, even despicable: a paltry amount. Something that is trifling is so unimportant and inconsiderable as to be practically negligible: a trifling error. Something that is trivial is slight, insignificant, and even in incongruous contrast to something that is significant
or important: a trivial remark; a trivial task. 3. small. 4. stingy, miserly.ANTONYMS 1. important. 4. generous.3.
having or showing narrow ideas, interests, etc
petty minds
4.
mean or ungenerous in small or trifling things
a petty person
5.
showing or caused by meanness of spirit
a petty revenge
6.
of secondary rank, esp. in relation to others of the same class or kind
petty states
a petty tyrant
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
pettily adverb
pettiness
noun
Word origin
[1325–75; ME peti(t) small, minor ‹ OF petit ‹ Gallo-Romance *pittīttus, of expressive orig.]Examples of 'petty' in a sentence
petty
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In other languages
petty
British English: petty
ADJECTIVE /ˈpɛtɪ/
You can use petty to describe things such as problems, rules, or arguments which you think are unimportant or relate to unimportant things.
He was miserable all the time and rows would start over petty things.
- American English: petty /ˈpɛti/
- Brazilian Portuguese: mesquinho
- Chinese: 不重要的
- European Spanish: insignificante
- French: mesquin
- German: kleinlich
- Italian: insignificante
- Japanese: 取るに足りない
- Korean: 사소한
- European Portuguese: mesquinho
- Latin American Spanish: insignificante
- Thai: หยุมหยิม
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Definition of petty from the Collins English Dictionary
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