pettifogger
UK/ˈpɛtɪˌfɒɡə//ˈpɛtɪˌfɑɡɚ/
pettifogger noun: someone who quibbles over trivia, and raises petty, annoying objections and sophistry.
Noun
pettifogger (plural pettifoggers)
- Someone who quibbles over trivia, and raises petty, annoying objections and sophistry.
- Hence the cunning measure of appointing as ambassador some political pettifogger skilled in delays, sophisms, and misapprehensions, and dexterous in the art of baffling argument.1809, Washington Irving, chapter 39, in Knickerbocker's History of New York
- Synonyms:
- nitpicker
- An unscrupulous or unethical lawyer, especially one of lesser skill.
- "An inn, or a tavern . . . these are places where greasy citizens take pipe and pot, where the knavish pettifoggers of the law spunge on their most unhappy victims.1822, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 11, in The Fortunes of Nigel
- This gentleman (for such he was, however strange ladies who class country attorneys with vulgar pettifoggers in fashionable novels may deem the assertion) was the son of a brave officer,...1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter LXX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 257
- Synonyms:
- shyster
pettifogger meaning in Tamil and Kannada
pettifogger in Tamil
- சின்னச் சின்ன விசயங்களுக்காகச் சண்டையிடு, சட்டத்துறையில் நெறியற்றுத் தொழில் செய், ஏமாற்று, வஞ்சனை செய், நெறியற்ற, கீழ்த்தரமான வழக்கறிஞர்
pettifogger in Kannada
- ಕಳಪೆ ಲಾಯರು, ತರಲೆ ವಕೀಲ
Examples of pettifogger in a sentence
- . . .yet he has never sought by browbeating and other arts of the pettifogger, to confuse, baffle, and bewilder a witness. . . .1885, The Bay State Monthly, volume 3, number 6:
- Edgerton, a high class, reputable lawyer, was called in of counsel from another city to lend respectability to the crooked, unprincipled, blackmailing pettifogger, Hughes."1926 June 28, “National Affairs: Blind Mans Huff”, in Time:
Synonyms of pettifogger
Forms of pettifogger
| plural | pettifoggers |
|---|
Origin of pettifogger
petty + fogger
Words that rhyme with pettifogger
Questions about pettifogger
- What does pettifogger mean?
- Pettifogger means someone who quibbles over trivia, and raises petty, annoying objections and sophistry.
- What is pettifogger in Tamil?
- Pettifogger in Tamil is சின்னச் சின்ன விசயங்களுக்காகச் சண்டையிடு, சட்டத்துறையில் நெறியற்றுத் தொழில் செய், ஏமாற்று. See Pettifogger meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use pettifogger in a sentence?
- . . .yet he has never sought by browbeating and other arts of the pettifogger, to confuse, baffle, and bewilder a witness. . . .
- What part of speech is pettifogger?
- Pettifogger is a noun.
- How do you pronounce pettifogger?
- Pettifogger is pronounced /ˈpɛtɪˌfɒɡə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of pettifogger?
- The plural of pettifogger is pettifoggers.
Words near pettifogger in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pettifogger (page history and authors); pettifogger (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pettifogger (Kannada 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pettifogger.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pettifogger.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pettifogger. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.