hairsplitting
Speech parts
1. hairsplitting - Noun
2. hairsplitting - Adjective
3. hairsplitting - Verb
4. hairsplitting - Adjective Satellite
Meaning
Making excessively nice or trivial distinctions in reasoning; subtle.
The act or practice of making trivial distinctions.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
Antonyms
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Phrases with the word
Examples
finespun distinctions
they didn't take his hairsplitting seriously
For example, the comic playwright Aristophanes criticizes the sophists as hairsplitting wordsmiths, and makes Socrates their representative.
The term "pilpul" was increasingly applied derogatorily to novellae deemed casuistic and hairsplitting.