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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
obsessed over even petty problems
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of petty
The writer and this young woman who is both a petty criminal and a political activist.
—
Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 9 May 2025
Don't be that person who causes unnecessary family drama over what amounts to petty jealousy.
—Erin Clack, People.com, 9 May 2025
Our characters deeply love each other, and the conflict between them is about noble issues, not petty drama.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 8 May 2025
The trio seems to have little in common, and the willful misunderstanding and petty tone-policing by Serge and Marc are relentless.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for petty
Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 9 May 2025
Don't be that person who causes unnecessary family drama over what amounts to petty jealousy.
—Erin Clack, People.com, 9 May 2025
Our characters deeply love each other, and the conflict between them is about noble issues, not petty drama.
—Okla Jones, Essence, 8 May 2025
The trio seems to have little in common, and the willful misunderstanding and petty tone-policing by Serge and Marc are relentless.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for petty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petty
Adjective
-
To meet rising demand, companies sprang up and began churning out rides – smaller versions for traveling carnivals and larger ones for town squares and amusement parks.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
26 May 2025
-
The second season of HBO's zombie smash ends with battles both big and small, a major death, and a time rewind.—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
26 May 2025
Adjective
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Here’s why: Although technical specifications are still being worked out, the new standard could deliver nominal peak data rates of more than 40Gbps.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
20 May 2025
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The main question of contemporary cinema isn’t (pace the nominal avant-garde) whether to tell a story but what story to tell, how to tell it, and, for that matter, what a story is.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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It could not be fenced off and become a parochial one now.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
21 Apr. 2025
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Investors might want to be less parochial just as political policy becomes increasingly so.—
Ron Insana,
CNBC,
7 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Add slight tweaks to his pre-pitch charge and compression, Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins said, and Varsho now works above and down to the ball.—
Mitch Bannon,
New York Times,
19 May 2025
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Meanwhile, a DeepMind researcher discussed adversarial machine learning, a phenomenon where slight manipulations to input data can drastically alter an AI’s output.—
Korok Ray,
Forbes.com,
19 May 2025
Adjective
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The Horned Frogs gave up two late runs in a narrow 2-1 loss to Arizona in the championship game of the Big 12 Tournament on Saturday night at Globe Life Field.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
25 May 2025
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The Formula 1 season moves to its most iconic venue this weekend, with the eighth round of the championship taking place around the narrow streets of Monaco.—
Dan Cancian,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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Harnessing The Power Of Data For AI The data in your organization’s repositories, even the data that seems trivial, like emails or archived contracts, has inherent value to your business.—
Jesse Todd,
Forbes.com,
19 May 2025
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Matt steps outside his Hollywood bubble and realizes how small and trivial his problems are.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The musical features a scene about little Sarah making her joke about Jeffrey’s death and no one laughing.—
Stephen Rodrick,
Rolling Stone,
18 May 2025
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When Carter was little, his mother always included him in her life, as Anderson told PEOPLE in 2016.—
Julie Tremaine,
People.com,
18 May 2025
Adjective
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Frankly, the more trifling the crime, the better this franchise’s comedy aspirations would work.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Apr. 2025
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With that much water needed for even the most trifling tasks, the natural question becomes: How does that water reach those data centers, let alone the world’s farms and factories?—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
28 May 2010
Cite this Entry
“Petty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petty. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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