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Glite Dictionary
hair-splitting

hair-splitting

1 7.7
Making very small, unimportant differences in an argument or discussion
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛrˌsplɪtɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : disquisición
  • They engaged in hair-splitting arguments that made it difficult to reach a consensus.

Examples

  • In debates, hair-splitting often distracts from the main issue at hand.

  • This is exactly the sort of semantic hair-splitting.

    Blog text (27)

  • Well, that sounds like hair-splitting to me!

    Blog text (26)

  • But enough of this hair-splitting business.

    Blog text (20)

  • Rothstein has wasted a huge amount of time and hair-splitting on the wrong topic.

    Blog text (8)

  • "Players on both sides of the aisle engage in this type of hair-splitting," Beckel said.

    Blog text (29)

  • Most Americans could not give a whit for all of this sectarian hair-splitting.

    Blog text (1)

  • There is a tendency among some people to regard court cases of this sort as petty hair-splitting on small matters and as work that distracts activists from more pressing concerns.

    Academic text (2005)

  • No more depositional battles, jurisdictional confrontations, or hair-splitting debates about responsibility for poisoning what was left of the livable earth.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • The professor criticized the students for their hair-splitting over minor details in their papers.

Synonyms

pedantry
vshair-splitting
2 8.4

Paying too much attention to small rules and details to show you know a lot

is about trivial distinctions in argument, not showing off learning
hairsplitting
vshair-splitting
1 8.2

Paying too much attention to small unimportant details in a debate

is written with a hyphen instead of as one word
pilpul
vshair-splitting
  • Jargon
9.9

A way of arguing that focuses on small unimportant differences and confuses the issue

is neutral fine distinction making, not necessarily specious
word-splitting
vshair-splitting
8.4

Arguing about small differences in meaning instead of the main point

focuses on fine analytical distinctions generally, not only wording
pettifogging
vshair-splitting
  • Archaic
9.9

Arguing about small unimportant details that wastes time and annoys people

is similar but lacks the petty or unfair attitude
pedanticism
vshair-splitting
9.6

Being too focused on small rules and details in a way that annoys people

is focused on trivial distinctions in argument rather than academic display

Antonyms

generalization
  • US
43 5.3

A statement that applies to many people or situations

simplification
13 3.6

Making something less complicated so it is easier to understand

How Detailed

hair-splitting
  • Informal
1 7.7
precision
  • Specialized
157 4.2
outline
59 2.7
overview
74 3.8

Surface Forms

hair-splitting singular
hair-splittings plural

Morphology

hair-splitting = hair + splitting (semi-transparent) = hair + split + ing

Formed by compounding 'hair' + 'splitting' (the gerund of 'split'); the idiomatic extension from 'splitting hairs' to mean making excessively fine or trivial distinctions is predictable but idiomatic.

Etymology

Hair-splitting comes from the picture of trying to split a single hair in two, so it suggests making 'very small' divisions. So, hair-splitting means arguing about tiny, unimportant differences instead of the main point.