hair splitting
Quibbling over minutiae
Hair splitting is making overly fine distinctions that seem trivial or pedantic to others.
The image is of dividing something already impossibly thin.
Someone engaged in hair splitting fixates on minor details while missing larger points: Let's not get into hair splitting over exact wording.
The adjective hair-splitting describes this tendency; a hairsplitter is one who indulges in it.
- nitpickingExcessive focus on trivialities
- pedanticExcessively concerned with minor rules
- quibblingPetty objection-raising
- word gamesLinguistic recreational activities
- semanticOf meaning in language
picking nits · trivial · technicality · minutiae · fussy · caviling · petty · finicky · overanalysis · parsing · fine print · dissecting · meticulous · precise · exacting · legalistic · sophistry · casuistry
- splittingcell division
- evasionevasion, avoiding, avoids, evade, dodging
- Mental Challengeslogic puzzles, riddles, brain teasers, word games, paradoxes
- Precision phraseson the mark, on target, spot on, dead on, bulls-eye
- squabblesspat, tiff, quarrel, bickering, squabble
- triviatrivia, facts, quiz, anecdotes, trivia night
hair splittingbig picture thinking
Focus on overarching patterns
seeing the forest for the trees · generalization · broad strokes · sweeping view · oversimplification
hair splittingpragmatism
Practical problem-solving philosophy
practicality · cutting to the chase · common sense · straight talk · getting to the point
hair splittingbig picture thinking
Focus on overarching patterns
seeing the forest for the trees · holistic view · bird's eye view · gestalt · macro view
hair, split, hairs, haired, hairy, hairless, hairiness, splits, splitting