split hairs

phrase

as in complain
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant They fussed that the cheese should have been served at room temperature, but to me they were splitting hairs.

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Cite this Entry

“Split hairs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/split%20hairs. Accessed 28 Feb. 2025.

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