pettifog

[pet-ee-fog, -fawg]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pettifog ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), pet·ti·fogged, pet·ti·fog·ging.

to bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.

to carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business.

to practice chicanery of any sort.

Origin of pettifog

1605–15; back formation from pettifogger, equivalent to petty + fogger < Middle Low German voger or Middle Dutch voeger one who arranges things; akin to Old English gefōg a joining

Related formspet·ti·fog·ger, nounpet·ti·fog·ger·y, noun

Can be confusedambulance chaser mouthpiece pettifogger shyster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pettifogger

hypocrite, chiseler, trickster, mouthpiece, cheater, scammer, nitpicker, quibbler, complainer, niggler, carper, whiner, caviller, faultfinder, impersonator, cheat, faker, sham, fake, sharper

Examples from the Web for pettifogger

Historical Examples of pettifogger

Bear witness, I pray you all,” said the Pettifogger, “as to what the knave called me.
The Sleeping Bard
Ellis Wynne
I never said you were a pettifogger, or a scoundrel; but I did say you were little Else.
The Jest Book
Mark Lemon
He was a pettifogger; their (the Smiths') cat-paw to do their dirty work.
The Story of the Mormons
William Alexander Linn
Now which was the best pedigree, that of the son of the pastry-cook, or that of the son of the pettifogger?
The Romany Rye
George Borrow
Now, which was the best pedigree, that of the son of the pastry-cook, or that of the son of the pettifogger?
The Romany Rye
George Borrow

British Dictionary definitions for pettifogger

pettifogger

noun

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

any person who quibbles or fusses over details

Derived Formspettifoggery, noun

Word Origin for pettifogger

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

pettifog

verb -fogs, -fogging or -fogged

(intr) to be a pettifogger

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pettifogger

1560s, from petty; the second element possibly from obsolete Dutch focker, from Flemish focken "to cheat," or from cognate Middle English fugger, from Fugger the renowned family of merchants and financiers of 15c.-16c. Augsburg. In German, Flemish and Dutch, the name became a word for "monopolist, rich man, usurer."

A 'petty Fugger' would mean one who on a small scale practices the dishonourable devices for gain popularly attributed to great financiers; it seems possible that the phrase 'petty fogger of the law,' applied in this sense to some notorious person, may have caught the popular fancy. [OED first edition, in a rare burst of pure speculation]

However, OED also calls attention to pettifactor "legal agent who undertakes small cases" (1580s), which, though attested slightly later, might be the source of this. Related: Pettifoggery.