pettiness

[ pet-ee-nis ]

noun

1. the quality or condition of being of little, lesser, or no importance, consequence, or merit; insignificance:

   The economic cost of these wildfires pales into pettiness when compared to the real victims—the wildlife and the natural landscape.

   The film is a comedy about the boredom, pettiness, and general strangeness of working in an office, as the protagonists spend their days plotting a way out of their dull and meaningless jobs.

2. the quality or condition of having or expressing limited ideas, interests, etc.; narrow-mindedness:

   The novel is set against a background of small-town deceit and pettiness.

3. the quality or condition of being unkind, stingy, or ungenerous, especially in small or trifling things; meanspiritedness:

   Their pettiness is perhaps best demonstrated by the threatened removal of an assortment of services provided to residents—things like fresh fruit, free coffee, and a monthly outing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pettiness¹

petty ( def ) + -ness ( def )

Example Sentences

The Dallas-Washington matchup had all the pettiness we’ve come to expect from the NFC East, along with tough defense and a third-string quarterback.

From FiveThirtyEight

This is hardly the greatest tragedy of Spears’ life under conservatorship, but the pettiness is telling.

From Time

For Swift, it’s a powerful flex, a brilliant example of fan service and an exercise in high-minded pettiness, all at the same time.

From Washington Post

I really feel, at 60 years old, I’m sort of glad I got to indulge some of the pettiness of what I’d been.

From Ozy

It is a fascinating story of rivalry and even pettiness, albeit with huge stakes in the form of prizes, patents, profits, and prestige.

From MIT Technology Review

Rather, he dishes up a seemingly endless stream of examples of pettiness, irritation, hypocrisy and awkwardness.

From The Daily Beast

The pettiness could be no issue—photograph all of your children, rainbows, sunsets, and kittens.

From The Daily Beast

Why turn a genuine good-news story into an expression of childish pettiness?

From The Daily Beast

It represents instead a sorry reflection of the pettiness of current political debate in Washington.

From The Daily Beast

And it makes the pettiness and obstinacy on display in the U.S. over these negotiations all the more unseemly.

From The Daily Beast

We might read between the lines his noble love of mankind, his compassion for our helplessness, our mortality and pettiness.

From Project Gutenberg

And on these faces, there was a certain pettiness and coldness not observable on those of the poorer women.

From Project Gutenberg

But eventually some experience will reveal to them the pettiness of their estimate, and a readjustment of values is made.

From Project Gutenberg

Back they would come at night, and the terrible, narrow maelstrom of pettiness sucked them in.

From Project Gutenberg

Under cover of their primitive Christianity I never found more pettiness.

From Project Gutenberg