hair-splitting

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In his written judgement, Mr Justice Knowles said the grounds on which the panel had rejected the judge's application for relocation amounted to "semantic hair-splitting".

From BBC • Mar. 6, 2024

VOA’s stance has led to some intricate hair-splitting.

From Washington Times • Oct. 25, 2023

“I was a hair-splitting moralist, judgmental and proud,” Harley confesses many decades later.

From Washington Post • Jan. 8, 2023

But in a sense, this is all just hair-splitting.

From Salon • Jun. 30, 2020

At the same time it gave rise also to ritualistic piety, which, while tenaciously clinging to the traditional practice of the law, fostered hair-splitting casuistry and caused the petrifaction of religion in the codified Halakah.

From Jewish Theology by Kohler, Kaufmann