different between worthless vs petty

English

Etymology

From Middle English *worthles, from Old English weorþl?as (“worthless”), equivalent to worth +? -less. Cognate with Dutch waardeloos (“worthless”), German wertlos (“worthless”), Swedish värdelös (“worthless”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w??l?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w???l?s/

Adjective

worthless (comparative more worthless or worthlesser, superlative most worthless or worthlessest)

1. Having no worth or use; without value.

   Synonyms: miserable, useless, valueless, inconsequential

   Antonyms: precious, useful, valuable, worthful, worthy

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Strehlows

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)

1. (obsolete except in set phrases) Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.

   petty officer, petty cash
2. Insignificant, trifling, or inconsiderable.

   a petty fault
3. Narrow-minded, small-minded.

4. 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)

1. (usually in the plural, obsolete) A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.
2. (historical) A class or school for young schoolboys.
3. (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)

1. 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