What is another word for pettifogging?

Pronunciation: [pˈɛtɪfˌɒɡɪŋ] (IPA)

Pettifogging is a term used to describe someone who argues over insignificant or trivial things. Some synonyms for pettifogging are nitpicking, carping, caviling, quibbling, and hair-splitting. These words all convey a sense of someone who is overly concerned with small and unimportant details, to the point of being annoying or frustrating. Other synonyms include fault-finding, finicky, fussbudgety, and captious. These words all suggest a critical, fault-finding attitude, often done in a petty or trivial way. Ultimately, anyone who is pettifogging is being overly critical and overly focused on small details, at the expense of the bigger picture.

Synonyms for Pettifogging:

What are the hypernyms for Pettifogging?

A hypernym is a word with a broad meaning that encompasses more specific words called hyponyms.

Usage examples for Pettifogging

At last he said, "You are a well-matched pair of mean, rascally, pettifogging robbers."
"Bardell v. Pickwick"
Percy Fitzgerald
In one of these-the Lawyer-the original of Mr. Squeers may be seen in the character of an orthodox pettifogging attorney perched upon a stool.
"The History of "Punch""
M. H. Spielmann
This was characteristic pettifogging.
"John Knox and the Reformation"
Andrew Lang

Famous quotes with Pettifogging

  • Tostoy's message has not grown out-of-date. In the present "end of an age" when fear and anxiety and collective crime have expanded beyond even Tolstoy's conception of the possibilities, these essays come to us with prophetic force and urgency. He strides like a giant over all the pettifogging economists and politicians and confronts us with his unanswerable accusations, his scorn and his love of life and humanity.
    Leo Tolstoy
  • Our fathers did not say it, because they did not mean it. They were men who meant what they said, and who said what they meant, and meaning all men, they said all men. They were patriots asserting a principle and ready to die for it, not politicians pettifogging for the presidency
    George William Curtis

Related words: petty, pedantic, quarrelsome, nitpicking, punctilious, hypercritical

Related questions:

  • What does petty mean?
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