pettifogger

American  

[pe-tee-fawg-er] / ˈpɛ tiˌfɔg ər /

noun

• pettifoggers
  plural

1. a person who engages in pettifogging.

2. a dishonest, unskilled, or underhanded lawyer.

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pettifogger British  

/ ˈpɛtɪˌfɒɡə /

noun

1. a lawyer of inferior status who conducts unimportant cases, esp one who is unscrupulous or resorts to trickery

2. any person who quibbles or fusses over details

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pettifoggery
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pettifoggers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pettifogger

C16: from _petty + fogger, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Fugger, name of a family (C15–16) of German financiers

Explanation

A sneaky, underhanded lawyer is a pettifogger. If your neighbor hires an unscrupulous quack to sue you, you might call his attorney a pettifogger. You don't hear the word pettifogger much these days, since the word is fairly archaic, but you might come across it in an old book. A bad lawyer, or pettifogger, used dubious means to get clients and to win cases. The mid-16th century word itself combined petty — "small," from the French petit — with the obsolete word fogger, "underhanded dealer," which probably came from a wealthy 15th century Bavarian family of merchants, the Fuggers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pettifogger pettifoggers

For nearly three years now, I’ve been fascinated by the performance art of this blustering pettifogger.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2023

“The noun pettifogger has two main senses: ‘A lawyer whose methods are petty, underhanded, or disreputable; shyster’ and ‘one given to quibbling over trifles.’

From Washington Times ● Feb. 2, 2020

The verb was actually formed from the noun "pettifogger", which was used in the 16th Century to describe those who would argue over minor details in a fee.

From BBC ● Jan. 22, 2020

The learned editor apparently has a greater future as a pettifogger than as an attorney.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Here," cried a backwoods pettifogger, "I'm for Philista Filkins; am always on hand at the tap of the drum, like a thousand of brick."

From The Puddleford Papers, Or Humors of the West by H. H. Riley

Quoting from Thomas Jefferson's diary reference to "soliciting pettifoggers," Joe Stamper of Antlers, Okla., urged his fellow lawyers not to "equate legal services with soap and breakfast foods."

From Time Magazine Archive

This would still the voices of those pettifoggers who will protest that Oswald was not actually proved guilty in a court of law.

From Time Magazine Archive

Who blindly take the book display'd By pettifoggers in the trade.

From Bibliomania; or Book-Madness A Bibliographical Romance by Thomas Frognall Dibdin

They have put their army under such a variety of principles of duty, that it is more likely to breed litigants, pettifoggers, and mutineers, than soldiers.

From Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Edmund Burke by Edmund Burke

He did not know any law, except what Bates, Turtle, and other kindred pettifoggers had taught him—and when he shot at a case, he shot in the dark.

From The Puddleford Papers, Or Humors of the West by H. H. Riley

Related Words

• con artist
• hypocrite