I. ˈped.]ē, -et], ]i\ adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English pety small, minor, alteration of petit
1. : having secondary rank or importance : minor , subordinate
the mountainous character of Greece explains its division into a crowd of petty states — Edward Clodd
a primarily agrarian society of petty producers — R.H.Hilton
2. : having little or no importance or significance : futile
defend with our lives the petty principles which divide us — Henry Miller
the petty cares and vexations that absorb life's energies — M.R.Cohen
3.
a. : marked by narrow interests and sympathies : small-minded
thought that little colleges are woefully circumscribed and petty places — A.C.Benson
suffering … makes men petty and vindictive — W.S.Maugham
b. : reflecting small-mindedness or meanness : unnecessarily harsh or severe
revealed to us the petty cruelty of men, not the large injustice of the gods — Virginia Woolf
Synonyms:
petty , puny , trivial , trifling , paltry , measly , picayunish , and picayune can mean little or insignificant, especially contemptibly so. petty applies to what is very small or unimportant and often contemptible by comparison to other things of its kind
giants beside whom we seem petty — Sinclair Lewis
the universe of our fathers shrinks to a petty compass, not much larger than the snug little state of Connecticut — V.L.Parrington
petty courts
fruit dealers, chestnut roasters, cigar venders, and other people, whose petty and wandering traffic is transacted in the open air — Nathaniel Hawthorne
the contrast between a dying way of life which is spacious and noble and a new way which is petty and crude — E.K.Brown
the petty, quibbling type of lawyer — Kenneth Roberts
puny applies to what is small or slight enough to seem feeble or ineffectual
a man of puny frame
the streams, often puny and insignificant during dry weather, become raging torrents during a storm — C.L.White & G.T.Renner
he was a puny eater — Lenard Kaufman
his puny accomplishments and his many failures — F.G.Slaughter
trivial applies to what is petty and commonplace, especially not worth any special notice, extending to apply to persons or activities marked by concern for mainly trivial matters
philosophy is at once the most sublime and the most trivial of human pursuits — William James
had seemed to him trivial and of no import — Oscar Wilde
the incessant hurry and trivial activity of daily life — C.W.Eliot
light, trivial conversation over tea
trifling applies to what is so small or unimportant as to have little if any value or significance
their estimate of her very trifling merits: and their wonder that their brothers could find any charms in her — W.M.Thackeray
a considerable sum was paid to Egmont and a trifling one to the Prince — J.L.Motley
most accidents are of trifling extent, and involve nothing more than the loss of time — American Guide Series: New York City
paltry applies to what is ridiculously or contemptibly small especially by comparison with what it should be
how unsubstantial then appear our hopes and dreams, our little ambitions, our paltry joys — A.C.Benson
paltry personal details prevail over world problems and cosmic questions — O.W.Holmes † 1935
a little equipment costing a paltry amount — F.T.Williams
measly applies to what is contemptibly small or petty
snatch at a little measly advantage and miss the big one — Sherwood Anderson
a measly portion of pie
a measly stingy individual
picayunish and picayune usually apply to the petty and insignificant, or to what is paltry in outlook or interests
a lifetime of picayunish drudgery in the company of louts — H.L.Davis
weed out dishonest or picayunish government employees
a narrow, picayune mind — Felix Lazarus
the obvious futility, the picayune, question-begging character, of such ethical analyses — Asher Moore
II. noun
( -es )
1. archaic : a boy in a lower form of an English school : a small schoolboy
2. dialect England : privy