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

This may seem like hairsplitting, but it is not without import.

From Washington Post • Mar. 22, 2023

In a June 5 interview with The Associated Press, the attorney general gave a hairsplitting description of his role in directing the law enforcement actions.

From New York Times • Jun. 21, 2020

This is a strange time to be debating the merits of truth in journalism on the stage—and it is journalism that John is practicing here, regardless of his genre hairsplitting.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 22, 2018

But, to avoid hairsplitting, what we call "modern" English literature may be said to date from about 1885.

From Modern British Poetry by Untermeyer, Louis