different between petty vs measly
petty
English
Etymology
From Middle English pety, from Old French peti, petit. Doublet of petit. The disparaging meaning developed over the 16th century.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?p?ti/
- Homophone: Petty
- (General American) IPA(key): [?p???i]
- Homophones: Petty, pedi
- Rhymes: -?ti
Adjective
petty (comparative pettier or more petty, superlative pettiest or most petty)
- (obsolete except in set phrases) Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.
- petty officer, petty cash
- Insignificant, trifling, or inconsiderable.
- a petty fault
- Narrow-minded, small-minded.
- Begrudging in nature, especially over insignificant matters.
- That corporation is only slightly pettier than they are greedy, and they are overdue to reap the consequences.
Synonyms
- (little, unimportant): See Thesaurus:insignificant
- (begrudging): grudgeful, grudging
Antonyms
- (little): See Thesaurus:big
- (begrudging): See Thesaurus:kindly
- (small-minded): broad-minded
Derived terms
Translations
See also
- quibble
Noun
petty (plural petties)
- (usually in the plural, obsolete) A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.
- (historical) A class or school for young schoolboys.
- (dialect, euphemistic) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
Synonyms
- (school for young schoolboys): ABC, petty school
- (class for young schoolboys): petty form
- (outhouse): See Thesaurus:outhouse
See also
- Petty France
References
- "petty, adj. and n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary (2005), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- “petty”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
- petty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- petty in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Hungarian
Alternative forms
- pötty
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [?p?c?]
- Hyphenation: petty
- Rhymes: -?c?
Noun
petty (plural pettyek)
- dot, spot, fleck, speck
- Synonyms: folt, pont, paca, pecsét, csepp, (on the face) szepl?
Derived terms
(Expressions):
- hétpettyes katicabogár (“seven-spot[ted] ladybird/ladybug”)
Declension
Further reading
- petty in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN
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measly
English
Etymology
measle (“singular of measles”) +? -y; the word measle is either from Middle Dutch masel (“a blister filled with blood; a pustule, a skin blemish”), or Middle Low German masel (“a red skin blemish”), from Proto-Germanic *masuraz (“a knot or scar in wood; a knarl”), from *mas-, *m?s- (“a spot; a sore; a scar”), from Proto-Indo-European *mos- (“a skin sore”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?mi?zli/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?mizli/
- Hyphenation: meas?ly
Adjective
measly (comparative measlier, superlative measliest)
- Particularly of pigs or pork: infected with larval tapeworms or trichinae (parasitic roundworms). [from late 16th c.]
- 1847, William Youatt, The Pig: A Treatise on the Breeds, Management, Feeding, and Medical Treatment, of Swine; with Directions for Salting Pork, and Curing Bacon and Hams, page 113:
- Then take five or six apples, pick out the cores and fill up the holes thus made with flour of brimstone; stop up the holes and cast in the apples to the measly hog.
- 1847, William Youatt, The Pig: A Treatise on the Breeds, Management, Feeding, and Medical Treatment, of Swine; with Directions for Salting Pork, and Curing Bacon and Hams, page 113:
- Of a person: infected with measles.
- 1902, The Epworth Herald
- A measly boy, he looked like a tramp, probably one of the street boys from the village, just walked up here and made himself at home, and when I told him to leave, he wouldn't.
- 1902, The Epworth Herald
- (figuratively, informal) Small (especially contemptibly small) in amount. [from mid 19th c.]
- Synonyms: miserable, paltry, trifling
- 2004, Richard Rizun, Ora, Trafford Publishing (?ISBN)
- The visiting tourists eagerly forked over a measly two dollars per group to their guides as payment for their services. This amount was measly sum to the givers, but a princely sum to the takers.
- 2010, Marylee Daniel Mitcham, Blacktime Song by Rosalie Wolfe, Strategic Book Publishing (?ISBN), page 127:
- So it wasn't a hotel, as I said in my novel, just a measly motel. But to me it was like the First measly motel, and I remember laughing about the things I was saying straight from my unconscious to both his and God's ear.
Translations
References
- “measly”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
Anagrams
- Lameys, Leamys, Lemays, Maleys, Mayles, Mealys, amyles, samely, yealms
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