How to Use petty in a Sentence

petty

adjective
Definition of pettynext
Synonyms for pettynext
  • My behavior was petty and stupid. I apologize.
  • No, all of you did this solely for the cheap thrill of petty theft.
    — Nate Odenkirk, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2021
  • The dirty streets, the petty crime, the eerily silent transit stations.
    — Heather Knight, New York Times, 28 Dec. 2023
  • Emails have piled up and my phone is abuzz with petty gossip.
    — Sarah Gillespie, Travel + Leisure, 15 May 2023
  • Not in a malicious sense, of course — more a petty one.
    — Sheldon Pearce, NPR, 13 June 2024
  • Part of me feels that this would be petty and vindictive.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Washington Post, 31 July 2024
  • Or, in this case, about science and not the petty problems of earthlings.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 9 July 2024
  • Were there any other ideas, in terms of petty acts of revenge, that didn't make the final cut?
    — Jessica Wang, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2023
  • As in much of the rest of the region, petty corruption is rampant.
    — Staff Writer, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Jan. 2022
  • For some in the agency, shakedowns of petty drug dealers are understood to be a perk of the job.
    — Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 1 Nov. 2022
  • The full Moon of the 5th tunes you in to dreams, faraway places and vision quests—so ignore petty annoyances that are in the air.
    — Katharine Merlin, Town & Country, 1 Feb. 2023
  • The real question: Was the petty feud between the two U.S. Open champions good for the game of golf?
    — Riley Hamel, USA TODAY, 26 Dec. 2021
  • To be that hostile and petty — to friends, no less, who are feeding them dinner — sounds deeply jerky to me.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 5 May 2023
  • But that had all been chipped away by petty jealousies and vicious fights.
    — refinery29.com, 13 Apr. 2022
  • Oh, how low the men of Westeros stoop in their petty grasps for power.
    — Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 17 Oct. 2022
  • Bernhardt had worked at one of those plants, had a record there of petty theft, and had training as a blacksmith.
    — Joshua Hammer, Town & Country, 28 Jan. 2022
  • The gossip or petty stuff is just a waste of time and is almost like an infection.
    — Stephen Gerard, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
  • There were deep convos, petty fights, and sky-high heels galore.
    — Korin Miller, Women's Health, 17 Aug. 2023
  • For some of them, that means driving down petty crime at places central to their daily lives.
    — Paul Duggan, Washington Post, 28 July 2023
  • With five weeks until Election Day, this is not the time for petit niceties but rather petty needling.
    — Philip Elliott, TIME, 30 Sep. 2024
  • The tension mounts, and soon husband and wife are having an ugly, petty fight.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 24 Nov. 2023
  • What’s more, fuel theft is not a crime that’s limited to just petty thieves.
    — Jim Gorzelany, Forbes, 18 July 2022
  • In a sequel from the two-time Pulitzer winner, Ray Carney is pulled back into petty crime.
    — The California Independent Booksellers Alliance, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2023
  • After three or so songs, the singing just feels a little like some kind of petty punishment.
    — Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Violators would be guilty of a petty offense and face a $50 fine.
    — Brieanna J. Frank, USA TODAY, 30 June 2023
  • Ma said business owners in the area, including him, have dealt with robberies and petty thefts over the years.
    — Louis Casiano, Fox News, 3 Sep. 2022
  • And by throwing shade this week, Anthony wound up looking a heck of a lot more petty than the Nuggets ever did.
    — Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 13 Jan. 2024
  • The leader of the British crew had reacted to this petty crime by shooting not only the thief but also a second Māori man.
    — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
  • And what celebrity is petty enough to spend millions of dollars — and years of their lives — airing their own dirty laundry?
    — Daniel Novack, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Sep. 2022
  • And her scheming goes far beyond these kinds of playful, albeit petty jabs at the people who have caused her harm.
    — Annabel Gutterman, Time, 21 Oct. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'petty.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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