petty

Meanings

Adjective

• having little or no importance
• marked by or reflective of undesirably limited interests, sympathies, or views; preoccupied with subjects having little or no importance
• Begrudging in nature, especially over insignificant matters.
• Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.

Noun

• A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.
• A class or school for young schoolboys.
• An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.

Related

Similar words

• grudgeful, grudging
• ABC, petty school
• petty form

Opposite words

• broad-minded

Origin

• From Middle English pety, from Old French peti, petit. petit. The disparaging meaning developed over the 16th century.