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
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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
He was involved in petty crimes as a teenager and became a drug dealer and leader of a gang of thieves in New York City.
—
Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2026
The pair embarks on an unauthorized investigation that leads them from a petty church theft to a high-stakes murder case in Gangnam.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 13 Apr. 2026
For power users, this sort of thing can’t help but read as needling, even petty platform quirks.
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2026
Season 1 was a full-on sensation, powered by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong's performances as Danny and Amy, two strangers whose petty clash on the road snowballs into a vicious feud.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for petty
Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2026
The pair embarks on an unauthorized investigation that leads them from a petty church theft to a high-stakes murder case in Gangnam.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 13 Apr. 2026
For power users, this sort of thing can’t help but read as needling, even petty platform quirks.
—Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2026
Season 1 was a full-on sensation, powered by Steven Yeun and Ali Wong's performances as Danny and Amy, two strangers whose petty clash on the road snowballs into a vicious feud.
—Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for petty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petty
Adjective
-
It was found [that] the actual tumor was pretty small.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Then, the family says two others broke through a small window, manhandled their dogs and stole priceless mementos handed down through their family over generations, along with the cash.—
Nicole Comstock,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The bulls claim that trend justifies today’s valuations, and that EPS can keep rolling in double-digits while national income trudges at a nominal 5% or so.—
Shawn Tully,
Fortune,
19 Apr. 2026
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Funds routed through weakly regulated financial centers, often under nominal compliance regimes, help seed narratives designed to divide Western societies and undermine political cohesion.—
Gaurav Srivastava,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
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
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But quietly, the third-year forward had put himself in position for a more parochial reserve reward, one that caught him unaware.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Meanwhile, walnuts lend a slight crunch throughout.—
Cameron Beall,
Southern Living,
11 Apr. 2026
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Cloud cover is forecasted to stick around all day, and temperatures are likely to top out in the low 80s this afternoon with a slight breeze from the south.—
Lauren Bostwick,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The shape of a pot affects drainage, with taller, narrower pots draining better than shorter, wider ones.—
Paul Cappiello,
Louisville Courier Journal,
17 Apr. 2026
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The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, previously handled about 20 percent of the world’s oil shipments.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Jones noted those were not trivial sums for working families of the era.—
Anna Alejo,
CBS News,
21 Apr. 2026
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The novel swings between the trivial and the dire, and in her bleakest moments Adora leans on the Stoics for guidance, thinking, C’mon, boys, don’t fail me now!—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Previous attempts to secure ceasefires have had little or no impact, with the two sides blaming each other for violations.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 Apr. 2026
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Start by trimming the tough, dry ends off the bunch and chop them into little logs.—
Jesse Szewczyk,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
12 Apr. 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
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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 22 Apr. 2026.
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