Word.ws English Dictionary

pettifog

/ˈpɛt.iˌfɒɡ/

pettifog verb: to quibble over trivial matters; nitpick.

Verb

pettifog (third-person singular simple present pettifogs, present participle pettifogging, simple past and past participle pettifogged)

  1. (intransitive) To quibble over trivial matters; nitpick.
    • Don't pettifog or we will soon grow weary.
    • [Deacon Mushrat to Pogo:] The Machiavellian barratry of a pettifogging public has maundered into do-nothingism.1959 April 24, Walt Kelly, Pogo, comic strip, →ISBN, page 35
  2. (intransitive) To do a petty business as a lawyer, or carry out law business in a petty or tricky way.
    • He is a common barreter for his pleasure, that takes no money, but pettifogs gratis.c. 1840, “Samuel Butler”, in Lives of Eminent and Illustrious Englishmen

pettifog meaning in Tamil

pettifog in Tamil

ஏரணப் பேச்சு

Synonyms of pettifog

Forms of pettifog

third-person singular presentpettifogs
present participlepettifogging
past participlepettifogged
pastpettifogged

Origin of pettifog

Back-formation from pettifogger.

Words formed from pettifog

Questions about pettifog

What does pettifog mean?
Pettifog means to quibble over trivial matters; nitpick.
What is pettifog in Tamil?
Pettifog in Tamil is ஏரணப் பேச்சு. See Pettifog meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is pettifog?
Pettifog is a verb.
How do you pronounce pettifog?
Pettifog is pronounced /ˈpɛt.iˌfɒɡ/ (UK).
What is the past tense of pettifog?
The past tense of pettifog is pettifogged.

Words near pettifog in the dictionary

  1. pettie
  2. pettier
  3. petties
  4. pettiest
  5. Pettifer
  6. pettifog
  7. pettifogged
  8. pettifogger
  9. pettifoggeries
  10. pettifoggers
  11. pettifoggery

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pettifog (page history and authors); pettifog (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-pettifog.wav.

Cite this entry: “pettifog.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pettifog. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.