hairsplitting as a noun: - 1
as an adjective: - 1
hairsplitting
noun
1 hairsplitting
Making too fine distinctions of little importance:
— They didn't take his hairsplitting seriously.
synonym: word-splitting.
Roget 477:
intuition,
instinct,
association,
hunch,
gut feeling;
presentiment,
premonition;
rule of thumb;
superstition;
astrology†;
faith
(supposition)
514.
sophistry,
paralogy†,
perversion,
casuistry,
jesuitry,
equivocation,
evasion;
chicane,
chicanery;
quiddet†,
quiddity;
mystification;
special pleading;
speciousness
etc.
adj.;
nonsense
etc.
497;
word sense,
tongue sense.
false reasoning,
vicious reasoning,
circular reasoning;
petitio principii [Lat.],
ignoratio elenchi [Lat.];
post hoc ergo propter hoc [Lat.];
non sequitur,
ignotum per ignotius [Lat.].
misjudgment
etc.
481;
false teaching
etc.
538.
sophism,
solecism,
paralogism†;
quibble,
quirk,
elenchus†,
elench†,
fallacy,
quodlibet,
subterfuge,
subtlety,
quillet†;
inconsistency,
antilogy†;
a delusion, a mockery, and a snare"
[Denman];
claptrap,
cant,
mere words;
lame and impotent conclusion"
[Othello].
meshes of sophistry,
cobwebs of sophistry;
flaw in an argument;
weak point,
bad case.
overrefinement†;
hairsplitting
etc.
v..
... show more
adjective
1 hairsplitting
Developed in excessively fine detail.
synonym: finespun.
Moby thesaurus: adverse criticism, animadversion, aspersion, bad notices, bad press, bickering, boggling, captious, captiousness, carping, cavil, caviling, censoriousness, chicane, chicanery, choplogic, contradistinction, critical, criticism, cynical, delicate, demarcation, differentiation, distinction, distinctiveness, distinguishment, division, dodging, equivocation, equivocatory, evasion, evasive, exception, faultfinding, fencing, finespun, flak, hairline, hedging, hit, home thrust, hostile criticism, hypercritical, hypercriticalness, hypercriticism, hypersensitive, hypersensitivity, imputation, knock, logic-chopping, microscopic distinction, morbid sensibility, morbidly sensitive, nagging, nice, nice distinction, niggle, niggling, nit, nit-picking, nuance, obloquy, overconscientious, overconscientiousness, overcritical, overcriticalness, overfastidious, overfastidiousness, overmeticulous, overmeticulousness, overnice, overniceness, overnicety, overparticular, overparticularity, overprecise, overrefined, overrefinement, overscrupulous, overscrupulousness, oversensitive, oversensitivity, oversqueamish, oversqueamishness, paltering, parrying, pestering, pettifoggery, pettifogging, petty, picayune, prevarication, priggishness, pussyfooting, quibble, quibbling, rap, refined, reflection, reproachfulness, segregation, separation, shade of difference, shifting, shuffling, sidestepping, slam, stricture, subterfuge, subtle, subtle distinction, swipe, taking exception, tergiversation, trichoschistic, trichoschistism, trifling, trivial, ultracritical ... show more.
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