pettier; pettiest
1
: having secondary rank or importance : minor, subordinate
2
: having little or no importance or significance
3
: marked by or reflective of narrow interests and sympathies : small-minded
Examples of petty in a Sentence
a petty argument about grammar
My behavior was petty and stupid. I apologize.
Recent Examples on the Web
Who among us hasn’t fantasized in the shower about exacting elaborate revenge for petty upsets, or lain awake trying to reframe our humiliations as epic tales of triumph?
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
Tim Robinson, who so often plays men consumed by petty fixations or compelled to take things too far, has his own fixations.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2025
The thought of this act of petty vengefulness, and others like it, were later on to fill me with remorse.
—Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025
The scale of that tragedy may be what makes Harris’s complaints seem so petty, however well founded many of them may be, and her deflection of responsibility so grating.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petty
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Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
Tim Robinson, who so often plays men consumed by petty fixations or compelled to take things too far, has his own fixations.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 9 Oct. 2025
The thought of this act of petty vengefulness, and others like it, were later on to fill me with remorse.
—Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2025
The scale of that tragedy may be what makes Harris’s complaints seem so petty, however well founded many of them may be, and her deflection of responsibility so grating.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petty
Cite this Entry
“Petty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petty. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
petty
adjective
pet·ty
ˈpet-ē 
pettier; pettiest
1
: lesser in rank or importance : minor
a petty prince
2
: having little or no importance or meaning
petty details
3
: having or displaying a mean narrow-minded attitude : small-minded
Etymology
Middle English pety "small, minor," an altered form of petit (same meaning), from early French petit "small"
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