Meaning of HAIRSPLITTING
 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
- [n] making too fine distinctions of little importance; "they didn't take his hairsplitting seriously"
- [adj] developed in excessively fine detail; "finespun distinctions"
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| | Synonyms: | | finespun, precise, word-splitting |
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| | See Also: | | differentiation, distinction | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \Hair"split`ting\, a.
Making excessively nice or trivial distinctions in reasoning;
subtle. -- n. The act or practice of making trivial
distinctions.
The ancient hairsplitting technicalities of special
pleading. --Charles
Sumner.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | adverse criticism, animadversion, aspersion, bad notices, bad press, bickering, boggling, captious, captiousness, carping, cavil, caviling, censoriousness, chicane, chicanery, choplogic, contradistinction, critical, criticism, cynical, delicate, demarcation, differentiation, distinction, distinctiveness, distinguishment, division, dodging, equivocation, equivocatory, evasion, evasive, exception, faultfinding, fencing, finespun, flak, hairline, hedging, hit, home thrust, hostile criticism, hypercritical, hypercriticalness, hypercriticism, hypersensitive, hypersensitivity, imputation, knock, logic-chopping, microscopic distinction, morbid sensibility, morbidly sensitive, nagging, nice, nice distinction, niggle, niggling, nit, nit-picking, nuance, obloquy, overconscientious, overconscientiousness, overcritical, overcriticalness, overfastidious, overfastidiousness, overmeticulous, overmeticulousness, overnice, overniceness, overnicety, overparticular, overparticularity, overprecise, overrefined, overrefinement, overscrupulous, overscrupulousness, oversensitive, oversensitivity, oversqueamish, oversqueamishness, paltering, parrying, pestering, pettifoggery, pettifogging, petty, picayune, prevarication, priggishness, pussyfooting, quibble, quibbling, rap, refined, reflection, reproachfulness, segregation, separation, shade of difference, shifting, shuffling, sidestepping, slam, stricture, subterfuge, subtle, subtle distinction, swipe, taking exception, tergiversation, trichoschistic, trichoschistism, trifling, trivial, ultracritical |
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