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Petty vs Shabby - What's the difference?

petty | shabby | Synonyms |

As adjectives the difference between petty and shabby

is that petty is little, small, secondary in rank or importance while shabby is torn or worn; poor; mean; ragged.

As a proper noun Petty

is {{surname|lang=en}.

petty

English

(wikipedia petty)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.
    • Like a petty god I walked about, admired of all.'' (Milton, ''Samson Agonistes , 1671)
    petty officer'', ''petty cash
  • Insignificant, trifling, or inconsiderable.
    • a petty fault
  • Narrow-minded, small-minded.

    • Derived terms

    * petty cash * petty officer * petty king * pettiness * petty crime

    Synonyms

    * See also

    See also

    * quibble

    External links

    * *

    shabby

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Torn or worn; poor; mean; ragged.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
    • , title= , chapter=2 citation , passage=Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.}}
    They lived in a tiny apartment, with some old, shabby furniture.
  • Clothed with ragged, much worn, or soiled garments.
    • The fellow arrived looking rather shabby after journeying so far.
  • Mean; paltry; despicable.
    • shabby treatment

    Derived terms

    * shabby-genteel (Webster 1913)