| 单词 | pettiness |
| 释义 | pettiness (once / 10824 pages) 1n 2n Pettiness is the quality of being completely unimportant. The pettiness of an airplane passenger's complaint that there’s a smudge on the window is likely to cause the flight attendants to pay no attention to it. Pettiness — whether it's in a term paper or an argument between politicians — is a focus on issues so small and trivial that it's almost silly. Another way to use the noun pettiness is to describe the quality of a person that's also called "small-mindedness." A friend's pettiness can be hard to live with, since she focuses on trivial matters and has a tendency to seek revenge for the slightest offenses. Petty comes from the French word for "small," petit. WORD FAMILYpettiness: pettinesses+/petty: pettier, petties, pettiest, pettily, pettiness USAGE EXAMPLESTell him you were upset your children were prevented from meeting their cousin and ask him to forgive you for your pettiness. Washington Post(Dec 22, 2016) “There’s a certain pettiness that I hadn’t seen before,” he said. Washington Times(Dec 30, 2016) Rep. Tom Cole, Oklahoma Republican, said Tuesday that he was surprised by the “pettiness” in the move. Washington Times(Dec 27, 2016) 1 1n the quality of being unimportant and petty or frivolous Syn|Hypo|Hyper puniness, slightness, triviality joke a triviality not to be taken seriously unimportance the quality of not being important or worthy of note 2n lack of generosity in trifling matters 2Syn|Hyper littleness, smallness closeness, meanness, minginess, niggardliness, niggardness, parsimoniousness, parsimony, tightfistedness, tightness extreme stinginess n narrowness of mind or ideas or views Hyper narrow-mindedness, narrowness an inclination to criticize opposing opinions or shocking behavior |
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