Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
hair-splitting en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
From splitting hairs, q.v.
Meanings
-
(derogatory, idiomatic) Of or characterized by hair-splitting, seeking or having exceedingly small differences, fine details, and/or edge cases of no seeming importance, concerning or concerned with minutiae.
2006, Ian Aitken, in The Guardian, Richard Clements Obituary
Dick's Tribune poked endless fun at the hair-splitting sectarianism of the various Trotskyist groups jostling on the fringes of the Labour party at that time.
Forms
Deriveds
hair-splittingly
Relateds
hairsplitter · hair-splittingly · hairsplit · split hairs
Synonyms
pilpulistic · pedantic · pilpulic · casuistical · jesuitic · jesuitical · casuistic · Talmudic · quibbling
hair-splitting en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From splitting hairs, q.v.
Meanings
-
(countable, derogatory, idiomatic, uncountable) The act of considering or arguing about exceedingly small differences, fine details, and/or edge cases of no seeming importance, worrying about minutiae.
Regardless of the ultimate judgment and any hair splitting, the CIA seemed to many Americans to have regressed to and even surpassed its criminal-like behavior during the pre-Church Committee hearings era.
2014, Richard H. Immerman, The Hidden Hand: A Brief History of the CIA:
Forms
Synonyms
Jesuitism · casuistics · pedantry · casuistry · Jesuitry · quibbling · hair-splittery · pilpul
Translations (14)
fr couper les cheveux en quatre (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · ru дото́шность (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · fi hiusten halkominen (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · fr diptérosodomie (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · fr enculage de mouches (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · fr pinaillage (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · hu szőrszálhasogatás (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · sv hårklyveri (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · ru въе́дливость (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · is hártogun (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · nb hårkløveri (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · ru зану́дство (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · pl dzielenie włosa na czworo (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent) · de Haarspalterei (the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are neither important nor prominent)