petty
part of speech
adjective (petty, pettier, pettiest)
meaning for a pupil
1) Small and unimportant: petty problems. tree →
2) Caring too much about small things in a mean way: «Don't be so petty!» tree →
3) Minor, less serious: petty crime, petty theft. tree →
4) Small, for daily use: petty cash. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday speech: «That's so petty!» = making a fuss about something tiny, being mean. In law: petty theft (stealing small things). In money: petty cash is a small amount kept for small costs. In history: petty kings ruled small lands.
examples
- Don't be petty — share the crayons. tree →
- They had a petty argument about who sat where. tree →
- Shoplifting a sweet is still petty theft. tree →
- The office keeps petty cash in a tin. tree →
- Toad thought rules were petty. tree →
- It's petty to stay cross about a game. tree →
note
Comparative: pettier, pettiest. From French petit (small). «Being petty» is a common teenage word.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «petty» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.