hairsplitting
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.
But Oedipus is in no mood for academic hairsplitting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
These arguably hairsplitting thoughts nagged at me thanks to my job as a congressional correspondent focused on federal spending.
From New York Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
On Thursday, the court perhaps did not invalidate most such restrictions, but it condemned itself to years of judicial hairsplitting in search of a principle about balancing judgments.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 23, 2022
They generally involve rephrasing the accusation, then issuing a very narrowly-crafted and hairsplitting denial, while avoiding the central claim.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2019
But, to avoid hairsplitting, what we call "modern" English literature may be said to date from about 1885.
From Modern British Poetry by Louis Untermeyer
