1
as in small
not broad or open in views or opinions
a petty little town that was not ethnically diverse and very happy about the situation
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
obsessed over even petty problems
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of petty
Thankfully, Babitz did exactly that — no rambling thoughts, petty accusations or amusing missives left unsaid.
—
Michael Schaub, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026
But the Knicks’ 3-point sharpshooter is petty enough to get a tattoo on his leg to spite his brother.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 12 May 2026
Of course, David went on to build one of the most illustrious careers in television with characters who are often arrogant, petty and unlikable by traditional media standards.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 8 May 2026
Detractors consider this format both mind-numbing and salacious, engineered for immediate gratification and often focused on cast members’ petty personal grievances and rock-bottom moments.
—Daisy Jones, Vogue, 2 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for petty
Michael Schaub, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026
But the Knicks’ 3-point sharpshooter is petty enough to get a tattoo on his leg to spite his brother.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 12 May 2026
Of course, David went on to build one of the most illustrious careers in television with characters who are often arrogant, petty and unlikable by traditional media standards.
—Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 8 May 2026
Detractors consider this format both mind-numbing and salacious, engineered for immediate gratification and often focused on cast members’ petty personal grievances and rock-bottom moments.
—Daisy Jones, Vogue, 2 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for petty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petty
Adjective
-
Eggs, sushi, and crypto The account paid attention to smaller stories, too.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
16 May 2026
-
East is a boutique hotel, some condos, and a small residential neighborhood with a few local restaurants.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
16 May 2026
Adjective
-
OnStage in Bedford began performing plays and musicals over 40 years ago in buildings the organization leased from the city for a nominal fee.—
Elizabeth Campbell,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
15 May 2026
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Unprocessed marijuana typically can fetch more than $600 a pound on the open market, depending on the category, but manufacturers often report to the state’s tracking system unrealistic nominal sales, often as low as a penny or dollar a pound, Lambert said.—
Christopher Osher,
ProPublica,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
Distraught by life in the South, Reed figured that the only way to escape his parochial childhood was to write his way out.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
12 May 2026
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Research shows the disparity between vaccination coverage in private and parochial/religious versus public schools is that private and parochial/religious schools tend to have higher rates of exemptions to vaccinations for moral and religious beliefs.—
Kar-Hai Chu,
The Conversation,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Reading scores, meanwhile, continued to decline during that period, reaching their lowest point since 1990 in eighth graders and pre-2003 levels for fourth graders; only last year did some states start to see slight improvements.—
Connor Greene,
Time,
16 May 2026
-
Sunny skies and warm temperatures are expected in Laurel on Saturday, with highs near 83 degrees before a slight chance of showers moves in late Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.—
Baltimore Sun staff,
Baltimore Sun,
16 May 2026
Adjective
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The five-time Masters champ was arrested March 27 on a DUI charge after the crash, which occurred when his Land Rover SUV attempted to pass a pickup truck pulling a pressure-cleaner trailer on a narrow, two-lane road in the Treasure Coast town.—
Madeleine Marr,
Miami Herald,
15 May 2026
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The company also topped revenue expectations for the first quarter and posted a narrower-than-expected loss than analysts anticipated, according to FactSet.—
Davis Giangiulio,
CNBC,
15 May 2026
Adjective
-
Discussing the merits of his actual song, therefore, seems entirely trivial.—
Jon O'Brien,
Vulture,
11 May 2026
-
Unfortunately, this supply is both exhaustible and relatively trivial compared with the roughly 20 million barrels of oil that normally flow through the strait per day.—
Wes Zebrowski,
Chicago Tribune,
8 May 2026
Adjective
-
Rami feared the worst, but head coach Didier Deschamps reasoned that there was little to gain from laying down the law when the mood in the camp was so positive and elected to forgive him.—
Tom Williams,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
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Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement are alarmed by the speed of the rollbacks, noting that protections won through generations of sacrifice have been weakened in little more than a decade.—
Kim Chandler,
Chicago Tribune,
16 May 2026
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, that global temperature record that DiCaprio mentioned in his acceptance speech in 2016 seems almost trifling compared to what has happened since.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2026
-
The health factor is no trifling qualifier for a player who has missed time with shoulder and oblique injuries, in addition to that unfortunate incident with his pelvic floor.—
Andrew Baggarly,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Petty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petty. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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