Petty

/ˈpɛt.i/ · adjective

Meaning

Having little or no importance..

Definitions by Sense

1. Having little or no importance.
2. Of persons or their behaviour: marked by or reflective of undesirably limited interests, sympathies, or views; begrudging, selfish, small-minded; also, preoccupied with subjects having little or no importance and not mindful of broader concerns.
3. Inclined to cause frustration or annoyance to others out of spite over minor grievances; extremely vindictive.
4. (historical) Of or relating to the lowest grade or level of school; junior, primary.
5. Little or small in size.
6. Secondary in importance or rank; minor, subordinate.
7. (dialectal, euphemistic, informal) An outbuilding used as a lavatory; an outhouse, a privy.
8. (historical) A class or school for young schoolboys.

Example Sentences

a petty fault    petty squabbles

Your minde is toſſing on the Ocean, / There vvhere your Argoſies vvith portly ſayle, / Like Signiors and rich Burgars on the flood, / Or as it vvere the Pageants of the ſea, / Doe ouer-peere the petty traffiquers / That curſie to them, do them reuerence / As they flie by them vvith their vvouen vvings.

I could have liv'd like Hengiſt, King of Kent, / London, York, Lincoln, and VVincheſter, / Under the povver of my Command, the portion / Of my moſt juſt deſert, enjoyed novv / By pettier Deſervers.

His birth, perhaps, ſome petty Village hides, / And ſets his Cradle out of Fortune's way: […]

Yea, he did hold me to it at that rate alſo, about a great many more things than here I relate; as, that it was a ſhame to ſit vvhining and mourning under a Sermon, and a ſhame to come ſighing and groaning home. That it was a ſhame to ask my Neighbour forgiveneſs for petty faults, or to make restitution vvhere I have taken from any: […]

[H]is VVords vvere ranged vvith more care and leſs confidence than before, and in all his Actions he eſſay'd to beſpeak me an opinion, that the VVorld could not offer him an employment vvhich vvas not leſs important and conſiderable in his thoughts, than the pettieſt occaſion to ſerve and pleaſe me.

I show thee what thy predecessors are, / And what they were thou feelest, in degree / Inferior as thy petty feelings and / Thy pettier portion of the immortal part / Of high intelligence and earthly strength.

Who would rot on the moor-side forgotten, / Slaughtered bickering for some petty town, / While the rich East blooms fragrant before us, / And all fairy land beckons us on?

Synonyms for petty

Antonyms for petty

Related Words

Word Forms

• pettier
• more petty
• pettiest
• most petty
• petties

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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