- [usually before noun] (disapproving)
small and unimportant 小的；琐碎的；次要的 I don't want to hear any more about your petty squabbles. 我再也不想听到你们那些小口角了。 a petty bureaucrat/official (= who does not have much power or authority, although they might pretend to) 小官僚；小官员 petty corruption/tyranny/jealousies/feuds 轻微的腐败/暴政/嫉妒/争斗
Extra ExamplesHe made his children's lives a misery with all his petty rules. 他的琐碎规定把孩子们的生活弄得苦不堪言。 Some of the prison officers were petty tyrants. 有些狱警是小暴君。 The removal of petty restrictions has made life easier. 解除了各种琐碎的限制后，日子变得轻松了一些。 There are plenty of petty bureaucrats who would report you for that. 有很多小官僚会为那件事告发你。
- (disapproving)
caring too much about small and unimportant matters, especially when this is unkind to other people 小气的；狭隘的 - (
law 法律 not very serious 小资： 不是很严重petty crime/theft 轻微罪行；小偷小摸 a petty criminal/thief 轻罪犯；小窃贼 When these people run out of money, they often turn to petty crime. 当这些人没钱的时候，他们往往会转向轻微犯罪。 These youngsters are often involved in petty crime such as shoplifting and casual theft. 这些年轻人经常犯下商店行窃和顺手牵羊等较轻微的罪行。
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘small in size’): from a phonetic spelling of the pronunciation of French petit ‘small’.