Definition of "hair-splitting" in English

noun

1. (idiomatic) the act of finding exceedingly small differences which are probably neither important nor noticeable to most people.

   • 2006, Ian Aitken, in The Guardian, Richard Clements Obituary Dick's Tribune poked endless fun at the hair-splitting sectarianism of the various Trotskyist groups jostling on the fringes of the Labour party at that time.