pettifogging

[pet-ee-fog-ing, -faw-ging]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pettifogging ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

insignificant; petty: pettifogging details.

dishonest or unethical in insignificant matters; meanly petty.

Origin of pettifogging

First recorded in 1570–80; see origin at pettifog, -ing²

pettifog

[pet-ee-fog, -fawg]

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 pettifogging

niggle, bicker, wrangle, hassle, prevaricate, fence, avoid, flip-flop, spar, dispute, cavil, squabble, nitpick, carp, waffle, criticize, shift, pretend, evade, equivocate

Examples from the Web for pettifogging

Historical Examples of pettifogging

The issues involved are too big and far-reaching for pettifogging methods.
The Root of Evil
Thomas Dixon
Why, you would not take such a pettifogging advantage of an old comrade as that.
White Lies
Charles Reade
It was just as well not to have a pettifogging lawyer to deal with.
The Slave of Silence
Fred M. White
None of your pettifogging tribe for me: I shall step to the front, and stay there.
For Faith and Freedom
Walter Besant
The pettifogging of disobliging illwill could go no further.
The History of the Post Office in British North America
William Smith

British Dictionary definitions for pettifogging

pettifogging

adjective

pettypettifogging details

mean; quibblingpettifogging lawyers

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 pettifogging

1570s as a verbal noun; c.1600 as a past participle adjective; see pettifogger. A verb pettifog is rare and attested only from 1640s.