hair-splittingly

adverb

In a hair-splitting way, characterized by exceedingly small differences, fine details, or edge cases of no seeming importance.

“Nobody expected the vote to be so hair-splittingly close.”

OriginProto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English hair-splitting →
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Meanings

adverbhair-splittingly (comparative more hair-splittingly, superlative most hair-splittingly)

comparative more hair-splittingly · superlative most hair-splittingly · alternative hairsplittingly

  1. idiomaticIn a hair-splitting way, characterized by exceedingly small differences, fine details, or edge cases of no seeming importance.

    Nobody expected the vote to be so hair-splittingly close.

Origin

  1. Englishhair-splitting
  2. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  3. Proto-Germanic*līką
  4. Englishhair-splittingly

From hair-splitting + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hair-splittingly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hair-splittingly

MLA

“hair-splittingly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hair-splittingly. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hair-splittingly,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hair-splittingly.

Source: hair-splittingly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.