hair-splitting
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.
Their final complaint was a hair-splitting gotcha: I wrote that “lawmakers can count on a few fingers the times former Sen. Vance has set foot in the Capitol.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
In his written judgement, Mr Justice Knowles said the grounds on which the panel had rejected the judge's application for relocation amounted to "semantic hair-splitting".
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2024
VOA’s stance has led to some intricate hair-splitting.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
And so, after all the parsing and hair-splitting, we come to the heartfelt, rough-hewn denials.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2023
But the arguments by which he persuades himself that he is not bound are not honest, since he has recourse to what he knows are hair-splitting distinctions, quibbles and sophistical reasonings.
From Moral Theology A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities by Charles Jerome Callan
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