Noun:
larceny of property having a value less than some amount the amount varies by locale
Adjective:
inferior in rank or status;the junior faculty
a lowly corporal
petty officialdom
a subordinate functionary
informal small and of little importance;a fiddling sum of money
a footling gesture
our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war
a little or small matter
a dispute over niggling details
limited to petty enterprises
piffling efforts
giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction
contemptibly narrow in outlook;petty little comments
disgusted with their small-minded pettiness
petty，trivial这两个形容词均含“琐细的，不重要的”之意。
petty指在同类中是最小最微不足道的人或事物。
trivial指无特别价值或重要意义的普通小事。
用作形容词 adj.
～+名词petty commodities小商品petty details不重要的细节petty remark小气的话
近义词 low低的base底部small小的puny微小的mean意思是little小的minor轻微的subaltern副官lowly地位低的inferior较低的wretched可怜的picayune微小的spiteful恶意的grudging吝惜的niggling琐碎的piddling无用的piffling琐碎的trivial不重要的miserable痛苦的resentful不满的important重要的secondary次要的despicable可鄙的paltry微不足道的footling不熟练的worthless无价值的malicious怀恶意的Lilliputian极小的contemptible可鄙的trifling微不足道的junior-grade低阶的fiddling无足轻重的unimportant不重要的lower-ranking低阶的vindictive有报仇心的narrow-minded气量小的petit larceny轻盗窃罪small-minded眼光狭小的insignificant无关紧要的inconsequential不合逻辑的petty larceny律轻盗窃罪…反义词 great很好的important重要的
用作形容词adj.
用作定语
～+ n.It was a petty problem and they soon solved it.这仅是一个小问题，他们很快就解决了。
用作表语
It is/was+～+of sb+to- vIt was petty of her not to accept the apology.她气量太小，连道歉也不接受。
形容词99%,名词1%
用作形容词The party split intopettyfactions.该党分裂成若干小派系。
The paymasters of thesepettycrooks are the big crime syndicates.操纵这帮小流氓的就是那个大犯罪集团。
In his short life he had run the entire gamut of crime, frompettytheft to murder.他在短短的一生中,从小偷小摸到杀人,什么罪都犯过。
Don't bug me withpettydetails.不要讲那些琐碎的细节来烦我。
People do not discourage this kind ofpettywork.人们对这种次要的工作不加以阻止。
She grew tired of hispettyjealousies.她越来越讨厌他那种心胸狭窄的忌妒行为。
She is verypettyat times.她有时很小心眼。