pettifogger
Britishnoun
-
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
Other Word Forms
- pettifoggery noun
Etymology
Origin of pettifogger
C16: from petty + fogger, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Fugger, name of a family (C15–16) of German financiers
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He hated Mr. Bonamy for a puritanical old pettifogger; but that was no reason why he should be rude to his daughter.
From Project Gutenberg
"That a son of mine should lack the spirit to turn on these pettifoggers!"
From Project Gutenberg
He figured conspicuously as a pettifogger before the justice of the peace, but regarding it merely as a kind of preliminary practice, seldom made any charge for his services.
From Project Gutenberg
"Tremble, pettifoggers, tremble," their glances seemed to say.
From Project Gutenberg
A happy thought suggested itself—one worthy of the unscrupulous theological pettifogger that he is.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
