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petty - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'petty' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Petty [ superl.]
- Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; a petty prince.

Meaning of 'petty' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . petty [ s]
Meaning (1):
- (informal) small and of little importance
Example in sentence:
  • a dispute over niggling details;
  • a fiddling sum of money;
  • a footling gesture;
  • a little (or small) matter;
  • giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction;
  • limited to petty enterprises;
  • our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war;
  • piffling efforts
Meaning (2):
- inferior in rank or status
Example in sentence:
  • a lowly corporal;
  • a subordinate functionary;
  • petty officialdom;
  • the junior faculty
Meaning (3):
- contemptibly narrow in outlook
Example in sentence:
  • disgusted with their small-minded pettiness;
  • petty little comments

Nearby Words:

pet petal petala petaled petaliferous petaliform petaline petalism petalite petalody

See 'petty' also in:

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Related Definitions

  • Petty cash fund
    Petty cash fund is a cash fund that is used to pay relatively small amounts such as the payments for postage due, working lunches, or taxi fares.

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