petty
larceny of property having a value less than some amount (the amount varies by locale)
• Syn:
petit larceny, petty larceny
• Ant:
grand larceny (for: petit larceny)
• Hypernyms:
larceny, theft, thievery, thieving, stealing
1. (informal) small and of little importance
- a fiddling sum of money
- a footling gesture
- our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war
- a little (or small) matter
- a dispute over niggling details
- limited to petty enterprises
- piffling efforts
- giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction
• Syn:
fiddling, footling, lilliputian, little, niggling,
piddling, piffling, picayune, trivial
• Similar to:
unimportant
• Derivationally related forms:
trivialize (for: trivial), trivia (for: trivial), triviality (for: trivial), pettiness, littleness (for: little)
• Usage Domain:
colloquialism
2. inferior in rank or status
- the junior faculty
- a lowly corporal
- petty officialdom
- a subordinate functionary
• Syn:
junior-grade, lower-ranking, lowly, secondary, subaltern
• Similar to:
junior
• Derivationally related forms:
subaltern (for: subaltern), pettiness
3. contemptibly narrow in outlook
- petty little comments
- disgusted with their small-minded pettiness
• Syn:
small-minded
• Similar to:
narrow-minded, narrow
• Derivationally related forms:
pettiness
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