Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

petty

/ˈpɛt.i/ adjective, noun, proper noun

Forms pettier pettiest petties Pettys

  1. adjective Having little or no importance. “a petty fault    petty squabbles”
  2. adjective Of persons or their behaviour: marked by or reflective of undesirably limited interests, sympathies, or views; begrudging, selfish, small-minded; also, preoccupied with subjects having little or no importance and not mindful of broader concerns. “Such literature may well be anathema to those who are too docile and petty for their own good.”
  3. adjective (informal) Inclined to cause frustration or annoyance to others out of spite over minor grievances; extremely vindictive. “My cousin is so petty—I forgot his birthday and he's been making snarky comments all week.”
  4. adjective (historical) Of or relating to the lowest grade or level of school; junior, primary.
  5. adjective Little or small in size.
  6. adjective Secondary in importance or rank; minor, subordinate. “petty cash    petty officer”
  7. noun (dialectal, euphemistic, informal) An outbuilding used as a lavatory; an outhouse, a privy.
  8. noun (historical) A class or school for young schoolboys.
  9. noun (obsolete, chiefly in the plural, also figuratively) A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.
  10. proper noun A surname.

Synonyms

base contemptible floccinaucinihilipilificatious foolish for the birds futile frivolous idle ignorable immaterial inconsequential inconsiderable indifferent insignificant like a fart in a windstorm meager mean minor miserable negligible petit larceny petty larceny junior-grade lower-ranking lowly secondary subaltern fiddling footling lilliputian

Antonyms

big central consequential critical crucial epochful essential extraordinary fateful fatefraught fatesome heavy

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English peti, pety (“little, small; minor”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman petit, Middle French petit, and Old French peti, petit, pitet (“young; little, small; inferior; insignificant”) (modern French petit), ultimately of imitative origin. It is no longer thought that the word is derived from Celtic. Doublet of petit and petite.
The noun is derived from the adjective.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; a petty prince. Denham.

Etymology [OE. petit, F. petit; probably of Celtic origin, and akin to E. piece. Cf. Petit.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “petty”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “petty” (best matches first).

All 12 Sanskrit matches →