pet ‧ ty /ˈpeti/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: peti 'small' ]
1 . a petty problem, detail etc is small and unimportant SYN trivial :
petty squabbles
petty restrictions
2 . unkind and caring too much about small unimportant things:
How can she be so petty?
petty jealousy and spitefulness
3 . petty crime a crime that is not serious, for example stealing things that are not very valuable
4 . petty criminal/thief etc a criminal whose crimes are not very serious
5 . a petty official is not important – used especially when they use their power as if they were important:
Some petty bureaucrat wanted all the documents in triplicate.
—pettiness noun [uncountable] :
the pettiness of Hollywood