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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of petty
The film tells the true story of the power struggle between notorious crime bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, two New York mobsters once the best of friends before petty jealousies put them on a deadly collision course.
—
Jessica Wang, EW.com, 21 Mar. 2025
For public safety, Perkins said, he's been speaking with local officials and studying data, including about how petty crimes can turn into larger ones.
—Annalise Frank, Axios, 20 Mar. 2025
The United States and numerous other nations implement and consistently update warnings for travel, potentially due to petty and violent crime, war or other reasons.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025
That sketch, coming just before the episode’s closing performance by Cypress Hill, was the hour’s peak, containing all the promise of petty obsessions afforded airtime in a chorus of besuited actors shouting a monologue as one.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petty
Jessica Wang, EW.com, 21 Mar. 2025
For public safety, Perkins said, he's been speaking with local officials and studying data, including about how petty crimes can turn into larger ones.
—Annalise Frank, Axios, 20 Mar. 2025
The United States and numerous other nations implement and consistently update warnings for travel, potentially due to petty and violent crime, war or other reasons.
—Dan Perry, Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025
That sketch, coming just before the episode’s closing performance by Cypress Hill, was the hour’s peak, containing all the promise of petty obsessions afforded airtime in a chorus of besuited actors shouting a monologue as one.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 13 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for petty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for petty
Adjective
-
The Liberals' smallest lead was in a poll conducted by Innovative Research among 1,548 Canadian citizens, which showed the party with a lead of just 2 points, on 36 percent to the Conservatives' 34 percent—a lead within the poll's 3 percent margin of error.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Mar. 2025
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Sutter Health Park’s capacity of 14,000 is very small compared to other MLB stadiums.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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According to expert estimates, India needs to spend around $100 billion per year, or 2.8% of current nominal GDP, to achieve net-zero power sector emissions by 2070.—
Radhika Kak, independent researcher at Harvard Business School and Varad Pande, partner at BCG,
CNBC,
20 Mar. 2025
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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.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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For the Americans working in Germany, the industry chain of command conflicted with cultural politics — Americans held parochial views about their post–World War II national superiority.—
Armond White,
National Review,
28 Feb. 2025
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Currently the parochial vicar at St. Lucy Parish in Campbell, Rev. Pedigo formerly served as pastor at St. Julie Billiart and Our Lady of Guadalupe in San Jose.—
Sal Pizarro,
The Mercury News,
8 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
International museums in 2024 collectively experienced a slight dip in attendance that marks a return to normalcy in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, the Art Newspaper reports.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
1 Apr. 2025
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Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, was the highest grossing show on Broadway again last week, even as its grosses took a slight dip.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
1 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The normally thick horizon haze could attenuate and redden the sun's light somewhat giving it the appearance of a narrow slice of cantaloupe melon.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
26 Mar. 2025
-
With this victory, Democrats maintain a narrow majority of 102-101 in the state House.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
What’s at risk The impact of an output such as calling a blueberry muffin a chihuahua may seem trivial, but consider the different kinds of technologies that use image recognition systems: An autonomous vehicle that fails to identify objects could lead to a fatal traffic accident.—
Anna Choi,
The Conversation,
21 Mar. 2025
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The under-the-table payments at the center of the case, which involved sums of up to $100,000, now seem trivial in comparison to the rapidly escalating figures involved in today’s NIL economy.—
Daniel Libit,
Sportico.com,
13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Governed by a growth mindset devoted to the logic of disruption, moving fast and breaking things, a flourishing structure of feeling about AI and art history has sprung up on the grounds of very little AI-and-art-history to have feelings about.—
Sonja Drimmer,
Artforum,
1 Apr. 2025
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Shark Robot Vacuum/Mop Deals The Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum & Mop is one smart little robot.—
Carlos Mejia,
PC Magazine,
31 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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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
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And yet the movie’s insularity feels trifling and empty.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Feb. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Petty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/petty. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.
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