Petty vs Niggardly - What's the difference?
petty | niggardly | Related terms |
Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.
Insignificant, trifling, or inconsiderable.
Narrow-minded, small-minded.
Withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.
* Bishop Hall
* 1919 ,
* 1958 , , The Affluent Society (1998 edition), ISBN 9780395925003,
In a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.
*, New York 2001, p.105:
Petty is a related term of niggardly.
As a proper noun petty
is .As an adjective niggardly is
withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.As an adverb niggardly is
in a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.petty
English
(wikipedia petty)Adjective
(en-adj)- Like a petty god I walked about, admired of all.'' (Milton, ''Samson Agonistes , 1671)
- petty officer'', ''petty cash
- a petty fault
Derived terms
* petty cash * petty officer * petty king * pettiness * petty crimeSynonyms
* See alsoSee also
* quibbleExternal links
* *niggardly
English
(Controversies about the word "niggardly")Adjective
(en adjective)- Where the owner of the house will be bountiful, it is not for the steward to be niggardly .
- They were not niggardly , these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest.
p. 186:
- This manifests itself in an implacable tendency to provide an opulent supply of some things and a niggardly yield of others.
Synonyms
* miserly, stingy. * See alsoAdverb
(en adverb)- because many families are compelled to live niggardly , exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shall be given at all, or very little […].
Usage notes
* This term may cause offence as it is easily misinterpreted to be an adverbial form of the racial epithet (nigger).Racist Language, Real and Imagined, Steven Pinker. February 2, 1999. The New York Times (editorial). The two words are etymologically unrelated.