From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhair-splittingˈhair-splitting noun [uncountable] CHOOSEwhen people pay too much attention to small differences and unimportant details, especially in an argument → split hairs at split1(8)
Examples from the Corpus
hair-splitting• This is the kind of disingenuous hair-splitting that gives politics a bad name.• But this is hair-splitting as an art form.• This, to those interested in the purpose of the insider-trading law, is lawyers' hair-splitting.• It is this kind of hair-splitting that gives politics a bad name. 