splits hairs
Quibbles over minutiae
To split hairs is to make distinctions so fine they seem pointless or petty.
The expression is usually critical—someone splitting hairs is being needlessly precise when broader agreement exists: Let's not split hairs over the exact wording.
A hairsplitter obsesses over trivial differences that don't matter to the practical question at hand.
- disputingArguing over validity
- nitpickingExcessive focus on trivialities
- quibblingPetty objection-raising
- fastidiousnessExcessive concern for precision
- overthinkingDwelling excessively on thoughts
picking nits · minor details · microanalysis · scrupulousness · pedantry · pettifoggery · fussiness · bean counting · specificity · rigor · caviling · precision · debating · devil's advocate · thoroughness · meticulousness · exactitude · counterarguments
splits hairssees the forest for the trees
Grasps totality despite details
generalizes · zooms out · glosses over · brushes aside · simplifies
splits hairscuts to the chase
Reaches the point immediately
split, splits, splitting, splitter, hair, hairs, hairy, hairier, hairiest