Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hairsplitter

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables
hair-split-ter
IPA
17
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A stickler person who makes extremely, possibly excessively, fine distinctions (who would separate something as fine as a hair into two pieces and distinguish them).

Etymology

From hair + splitter.

Inflected Forms

hairsplitters (plural) hair-splitter (alternative)

Phrases

split hairs

Frequently Paired Words

hairsplitting split hairs

Questions

What does hairsplitter mean?
A stickler person who makes extremely, possibly excessively, fine distinctions (who would separate something as fine as a hair into two pieces and distinguish them).
Where does hairsplitter come from?
From hair + splitter.

How to pronounce hairsplitter

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “hairsplitter”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “hairsplitter”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “hairsplitter” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.