hairsplitting

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A form of hair-splitting — The act of considering or arguing about exceedingly small differences, fine details, and/or edge cases of no seeming importance, worrying about minutiae.

Similar
finespunpreciseword-splitting
Scrabble 19
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Meanings

nounhairsplitting (countable and uncountable, plural hairsplittings)

plural hairsplittings

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of hair-splitting.
verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of hairsplit

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivedeveloped in excessively fine detail

Similar
finespunprecise

nounmaking too fine distinctions of little importance

Similar
word-splitting
Broader
differentiationdistinction
Also see
finespunhypercriticismprecise

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From hair + splitting.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

hairsplitting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hairsplitting

MLA

“hairsplitting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hairsplitting. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hairsplitting,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hairsplitting.

Source: hairsplitting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.