PETTY Synonyms: 117 Similar and Opposite Words

petty

adjective

ˈpe-tē

Definition of petty

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

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 Harness it wisely, and try not to waste it on petty arguments. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2026 This year, alluding to the president’s petty penchant for renaming things, the town has changed its name from South Park to South America, altering the theme song, local signage and local speech, without protest. — Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026 The good and the bad of democracy — healthy debate and petty political theater — were on display that weekend in Brussels. — Esther King, The Dial, 15 Sep. 2026 Mehring’s characters include petty criminals, unscrupulous lawyers, Galician Jews, Freikorps heavies, local and international businessmen, Prussian generals, and the everyday citizens inhabiting the streets of Berlin’s old and rather dingy center. — Literary Hub, 9 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for petty

Recent Examples of Synonyms for petty

Adjective

Only about a dozen countries have active programs, including small Caribbean island states.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
The treasurer’s office says the administrative cost of processing very small payments can exceed their value.

— Mark Lewyn, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of small

Adjective

Not a crisis — yet The negative feedback loop becomes more dangerous when nominal economic growth falls to low levels, causing debt relative to the size of the economy to rise persistently, Reese said.

— Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 5 Oct. 2026
The Iran war, forest fires and thunderstorms are all talking points this week as F1 gears up for a Bahrain GP held 3,750 miles (6,000 kilometers) away from its nominal host nation.

— ABC News, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of nominal

Adjective

Since 2015, a flurry of cases has decided issues as parochial as how much individual athletes are paid out of broadcast revenues and how long student athletes are eligible to play.

— Sen. Rand Paul OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Back then the age of discovery was at its peak, and startling new information about what had previously been a very parochial planet was flooding into the academies of Europe and the Americas.

— Ian Tattersall, The New York Review of Books, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of parochial

Adjective

Valadao, a Republican from Hanford, has won the seat in six of the last seven elections despite the district’s slight Democratic tilt.

— Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
In their paper from September, Minzer and his colleagues proved a slight variant of Khot’s second conjecture that has nearly the same consequences.

— Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of slight

Adjective

But do such experiences meet the narrow definition of attachment?

— Pascal Vrticka, Scientific American, 4 Oct. 2026
When the pollsters gave likely voters additional, critical information about both candidates, Bass shot up by 5 points and took a narrow lead over Raman, 40% to 39%, with 21% undecided, according to FM3.

— James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of narrow

Adjective

But little progress has been made towards implementing a deal to end the conflict, which includes terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
The Salem witch trials of 1692 carved out an enduring and powerful niche in American history for this little town, and this intimate, kitschy museum does an excellent job telling the story.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Oct. 2026