Petty

How to spell petty

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce petty

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does petty mean?

1. adjectiveOf little importance; trivial or minor.
2. adjectiveShowing a mean, small-minded concern with unimportant matters.

Petty in a sentence

• The manager refused to waste time on such petty complaints.

• It felt petty of her to bring up an old argument during the meeting.

• The contract dispute came down to a petty disagreement about wording.

• Refusing to lend him a pen seemed petty and unkind.

Where does petty come from?

Language of origin: French

Petty is an English respelling of the Old French word petit, which simply meant 'small' or 'little'. English borrowed it during the 1300s and, rather than keeping the French spelling, wrote it the way it sounded, giving the doubled t and the -y ending we use today. The original sense of literal smallness gradually narrowed into the idea of small importance, so something petty became something trivial or minor. From there it picked up a disapproving flavour, describing a person who frets over unimportant matters or behaves in a mean-spirited, small-minded way. The same French petit survives untouched in borrowings like 'petit four' and 'petite', which is a useful reminder that petty is really just 'petit' wearing an English coat.

How the word is built

• pett- (from Old French petit: small)
• -y (adjective ending)