Haarspalterei
German, noun[haːɐ̯ʃpaltəˈʁaɪ̯]
Haarspalterei is spelled H-A-A-R-S-P-A-L-T-E-R-E-I (13 letters) and appears about once in every 4 million words in written German, the 104,034th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Haarspalterei is a German feminine noun meaning “hair-splitting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “übertriebene Kleinlichkeit”.
What does Haarspalterei mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininehair-splitting
Ich halte es für Haarspalterei, ob das nun Deklaration, Manifest oder Grundsätze heißt.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
noun: 1. übertriebene Kleinlichkeit
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of Haarspalterei
- Haarspaltereien plural
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce Haarspalterei?
- [haːɐ̯ʃpaltəˈʁaɪ̯]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to Haarspalterei
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is Haarspalterei in German?
Haarspalterei appears about once in every 4 million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).