Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Pettiness |
PettinessNoun1. Narrowness of mind or ideas or views. 2. The quality of being unimportant and petty or frivolous. 3. Lack of generosity in trifling matters. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "pettiness" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1599. (references) |
Synonyms: PettinessSynonyms: slightness (n), triviality (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Pettiness |
| English words defined with "pettiness": Parvanimity. (references) |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | This pettiness saddened the devoted men who loved them, and the serious men who honoured their race. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | Let us put aside partisanship and pettiness and pride. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Pettiness" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Pettiness" is used about 37 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 37 | 56,631 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Language | Translations for "pettiness"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | benepenheid (small-mindedness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | نزق (cranky, cross, irritable, mad, pernickety, petulance, quick, rattle-brained, ratty, scatter-brain, snippy, testy, tetchy, touchiness), نزالة (rascaldom), حقارة (baseness, insignificance, obsequiousness, servility, swinery, villainy, wretchedness), تفاهة (banality, inanity, insignificance, insignificancy, insipidity, nothingness, nullity, platitude, prosaism, triviality), سوء نية (malignancy), عديم الأهمية (inconsequence, insignificant, trivial, triviality). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | malichernost (narrow mindedness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | kleingeestigheid (small-mindedness), benepenheid (small-mindedness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | malgrandanimeco (small-mindedness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | mesquinerie, manque d'importance, méchanceté, insignifiance, caractère pointilleux. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | geringfügigkeit (insignificance, littleness, paltriness, petiteness, slightness, triviality). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | μικρότησ (littleness, puniness), μικροπρέπεια (meanness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | קטנות (littleness, smallness), קטנוניות (meanness, niggling, triviality), דקדוקי עניות (hair splitting, minuteness, pedantry). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | kicsinyesség (fault-finding, fussiness, littleness, narrow mindedness), csekélység (bagatelle, jot, paucity, trifle, triviality). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | meschinità (destitution, indigence, paltriness, poverty, shabbiness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | mynchooishaghys. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ettinesspay micime (smallness), meschinãrie (paltriness), lipsã de importanţã (immateriality, indifference, nugacity, triviality). (various references) мелочность (meticulousness). (various references) sitničavost (brabble), sitničarstvo (littleness). (various references) pequeñez (littleness, shortness, smallness), mezquindad (meanness, paltriness, scabbiness, shabbiness). (various references) trivialitet (triviality), småaktighet (insularism, insularity), futtighet (paltriness), bagatell (bagatelle, fiddle, fluff, pinpoint, small matter, trifle, triviality). (various references) ufak işlerle uğraşma, küçüklük (childhood, littleness, shortness, smallness), aşağılık (abject, base, baseness, contemptible, dirty, groveling, grovelling, ignoble, ignominious, inferiority, low down, lowness, mean, no class, no good, petty, rascally, reptilian, scabby, scurvy, slavish, snotty, sordid, tinpot, unutterable, unworthy, vile, wicked, wormy). (various references) підлість (baseness, dirtiness, infamy, meanness). (various references) tính vụn vặt (inconsequentiality), tính nhỏ nhen (narrow-mindedness), tính đê tiện (baseness, contemptibility, contemptibleness, ignominy, scurviness, shabbiness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "pettiness": pettinesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Pettiness" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: pectines, pectinids, petainists, petiness, pettines, petyness, pitiness, Pottiness. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "pettiness" (pronounced pe"tēnus) |
| 5 | -t ē n u s | emptiness, nastiness, scantiness, tastiness. |
| 4 | -ē n u s | airworthiness, arbitrariness, bagginess, cleanliness, cloudiness, clumsiness, cockiness, contrariness, coziness, craziness, creditworthiness, creepiness, deadliness, dizziness, dreariness, drowsiness, edginess, friendliness, frothiness, funniness, ghastliness, hairiness, happiness, holiness, laziness, liveliness, loneliness, lousiness, niggardliness, nosiness, orderliness, queasiness, raciness, readiness, riskiness, roominess, rowdiness, shakiness, silliness, sleepiness, sloppiness, slovenliness, solitariness, steadiness, stinginess, sturdiness, tardiness, timeliness, trustworthiness, ugliness, uneasiness, unhappiness, unwieldiness, wariness, weariness, wimpiness, worldliness, worthiness. |
| 3 | -n u s | abruptness, absoluteness, acuteness, aggressiveness, agribusiness, alertness, aloofness, alumnus, Anas, androgynous, anise, appropriateness, assertiveness, astuteness, asynchronous, attentiveness, attractiveness, awareness, awfulness, awkwardness, backwardness, badness, baldness, bearishness, bigness, bitterness, bituminous, blackness, blandness, bleakness, blindness, bluntness, boldness, bonus, boorishness, brashness, brightness, bullishness, business, callousness, calmness, carelessness, casualness, cautiousness, cavernous, cheapness, chitinous, cleanness, cleverness, closeness, cohesiveness, coldness, Colonus, combativeness, compactness, competitiveness, completeness, consciousness, contagiousness, contentiousness, Conus, coolness, correctness, creativeness, crispness, crookedness, cuteness, dampness, darkness, Deaconess, deafness, decisiveness, defensiveness, destructiveness, directness, disingenuousness, distinctiveness, divisiveness, drunkenness, dryness, dullness, eagerness, earnestness, effectiveness, elusiveness, evenness, exogenous, eyewitness, faintness, fairness, farsightedness, fastness, fickleness, firmness, fitness, flatness, fondness, foolishness, forcefulness, forgiveness, forthrightness, foulness, fractiousness, frankness, freshness, fullness, furnace, gauntness, gayness, gelatinous, gentleness, genuineness, genus, gluttonous, goodness, governess, graciousness, greatness, greenness, grimness, handedness, hardness, harmfulness, harness, harshness, heinous, helplessness, highness, hoarseness, homelessness, homesickness, homogenous, hopefulness, hopelessness, humanness, idleness, illness, inclusiveness, indebtedness, indecisiveness, indigenous, ineffectiveness, ineptness, inertness, intravenous, intrusiveness, inventiveness, joblessness, Johannes, kindness, larcenous, largeness, lateness, lawlessness, lenis, lightfastness, lightness, likeness, luminous, madness, Manus, meanness, membranous, menace, Minas, mindedness, minus, monotonous, mountainous, mutinous, narrowness, nearsightedness, neatness, nervousness, newness, niceness, nitrogenous, nonbusiness, nonpoisonous, nothingness, numbness, ominous, oneness, onus, openness, otherness, outrageousness, outspokenness, pandanus, peacefulness, penis, permissiveness, persuasiveness, pervasiveness, playfulness, poisonous, politeness, polygynous, pompousness, possessiveness, powerlessness, preparedness, quickness, quietness, randomness, rareness, ravenous, rawness, reasonableness, rebelliousness, recklessness, redness, remoteness, resistiveness, resourcefulness, responsiveness, restiveness, restlessness, restrictiveness, richness, righteousness, rightness, robustness, roughness, rudeness, ruinous, ruthlessness, sacredness, sadness, Salinas, sameness, secretiveness, selfishness, selflessness, sensitiveness, separateness, seriousness, shallowness, sharpness, shortness, shortsightedness, shrewdness, shyness, sickness, sinus, skittishness, slackness, slowness, sluggishness, slyness, smallness, smoothness, smugness, softness, soundness, spiritedness, squeamishness, starkness, steadfastness, steepness, sternness, stiffness, stillness, stoutness, strangeness, stubbornness, suddenness, suggestiveness, sweetness, swiftness, tartness, tenderness, tetanus, thickness, thinness, thoroughness, thoughtfulness, tightness, tiredness, togetherness, toughness, truthfulness, unconsciousness, unfairness, uniqueness, unpleasantness, unwillingness, usefulness, vagueness, vastness, venous, viciousness, villainous, vindictiveness, vividness, voluminous, wastefulness, waterishness, weakness, weightlessness, weirdness, wellness, wetness, whiteness, wholeness, wholesomeness, wickedness, wilderness, wildness, willingness, wistfulness, witness, wonderfulness, wryness. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-i-n-p-s-s-t-t" | |
-1 letter: pestiest. | |
-2 letters: insteps, penises, petites, septets, sestine, spinets, tensest. | |
-3 letters: espies, insets, instep, peises, petite, pistes, seines, septet, sestet, sitten, snipes, speise, spense, spines, spinet, spites, steeps, steins, stints, stipes, tenets, tenses, tentie, testes, testis, tsetse. | |
-4 letters: inept, inset, neeps, neist, nests, netts, nites, peens, peins, peise, penes, penis, pests, petit, petti, pines, pints. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-i-n-p-s-s-t-t" | |
+1 letter: persistent, petiteness, pinsetters, presentist, prettiness. | |
+2 letters: pettinesses, pettishness, snippetiest, stenotypies. | |
+3 letters: guttersnipes, persistently, petitenesses, pheneticists, prettinesses, septentrions, spinnerettes, spottinesses, telephonists, typesettings. | |
+4 letters: inspectorates, misinterprets, nonpersistent, peritonitises, pettishnesses, posttensioned, predestinates, presentations, presentiments, receptionists, repristinates, spontaneities, stephanotises, steppingstone, stereopticons, streptokinase, uptightnesses. | |
+5 letters: antidepressant, intussuscepted, letterspacings, pectinesterase, perfectionists, photosensitive, photosensitize, preanesthetics, predestinators, protectiveness, repetitiveness, retrospections, sempiternities, stepparentings, steppingstones, streptokinases, superfetations, superintensity, toploftinesses, treponematosis. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)50 65 74 74 69 6E 65 73 73 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
|
| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
|
| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
|
Morse Code (1836) (references).--. . - - .. -. . ... ... |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
|
| Amazon.com BOOKS: Search for: "pettiness" |
