petty

Plural: petties

Noun

larceny of property having a value less than some amount (the amount varies by locale)
An outbuilding used as a lavatory; an outhouse, a privy.
A class or school for young schoolboys.
A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.

Adjective Satellite

inferior in rank or status
- "petty officialdom"
(informal) small and of little importance
- "limited to petty enterprises"
contemptibly narrow in outlook
- "petty little comments"

Adj

Having little or no importance.
Of persons or their behaviour: marked by or reflective of undesirably limited interests, sympathies, or views; begrudging, selfish, small-minded; also, preoccupied with subjects having little or no importance and not mindful of broader concerns.
Inclined to cause frustration or annoyance to others out of spite over minor grievances; extremely vindictive.
Of or relating to the lowest grade or level of school; junior, primary.
Little or small in size.
Secondary in importance or rank; minor, subordinate.

Adjective

Of little importance; trivial or insignificant.

Examples

a petty fault petty squabbles
Don’t let a PETTY score difference distract you from a winning strategy.
My cousin is so petty—I forgot his birthday and he's been making snarky comments all week.
petty cash petty officer
Such literature may well be anathema to those who are too docile and petty for their own good.
That corporation is only slightly pettier than they are greedy, and they are overdue to reap the consequences.

Origin / Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English peti, pety (“little, small; minor”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman petit, Middle French petit, and Old French peti, petit, pitet (“young; little, small; inferior; insignificant”) (modern French petit), ultimately of imitative origin. It is no longer thought that the word is derived from Celtic. Doublet of petit and petite.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

Synonyms

fiddling, footling, junior-grade, lilliputian, little, lower-ranking, lowly, niggling, petit larceny, petty larceny, picayune, piddling, piffling, secondary, small-minded, subaltern, trivial, ABC, Cousin John, House of Commons, avengeful, backhouse, backside, base, bog, boggard, boghouse, carsey, chamber foreign, common house, commons, compact, contemptible, craphouse, danna, draught, draught-house, dunnekin, dunny, earth closet, foolish, for the birds, foreign, frivolous, fun size, fun-sized, futile, gang, gingerbread office, gong, gonghouse, grudgeful, grudging, house of ease, house of easement, house of office, ickle, idle, ignorable, immaterial, inconsequential, inconsiderable, indifferent, insignificant, issue, jacques, jakes, jakeshouse, johnny house, karzy, khazi, kocay, like a fart in a windstorm, lit'l, little house, long drop, longhouse, low, meager, mean, mini, minor, modest, necessary, necessary house, necessary place, necessary vault, neddy, negligible, netty, nondescript, nothingburger, outhouse, paltry, passage house, petty, petty form, petty school, petty-house, picayunish, piddly, pint-sized, pissant, pitiful, pluckcrow, pocket-size, pointless, privy, privy house, purging place, retreat, revengeful, shield, shithouse, shouse, siege, siegehouse, silly, simple, slight, slim, small, small-scale, thunderbox, tin-pot, trifling, two-bit, undersized, unimportant, unweighty, usual offices, vain, vault, vengeable, vengeful, vengesome, vindical, vindictive, wardrobe, wee, withdraught, worthless, wreakful, wretched, wurly

Antonyms

grand larceny, broad-minded, grand, high, ignorable, inconsequential, insignificant, minor, negligible, small, tiny, trivial, unimportant, unremarkable

Scrabble Score: 10

petty: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
petty: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
petty: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

petty: valid Words With Friends Word