pettifogger

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pettifogger For nearly three years now, I’ve been fascinated by the performance art of this blustering pettifogger. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pettifogger
Noun
  • The following episode kicks off on a much lighter note with the lawyers all sitting around trading their favorite cosmetic procedures and self-care rituals.
    Tom Smyth, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Mainstream society, generally intent on grooming doctors, lawyers, accountants, scientists, engineers, and computer coders, perceived a student learning a working-class skilled trade as somehow lowly, poorly compensated, a second-class citizen.
    Stephen Tave, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • The bubble-ists think that the Coreweave people are hopeless dreamers at best and shysters at worst.
    Jim Cramer, CNBC, 28 Sep. 2025
  • To demonstrate that point in a video, a researcher told a robot arm to put a bunch of plastic grapes into a clear Tupperware container, then proceeded to shift three containers around on the table in an approximation of a shyster’s shell game.
    Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 12 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • It’s powered by triple Volvo Penta D13-IPS1200 engines, which caused some grumbling among brand purists with a thirst for speed.
    Michael Verdon, Robb Report, 7 Nov. 2025
  • To further enrage Predator purists, Thia and Dek adopt a cuddly little monkey-ish creature as their companion, a CGI bit of whimsy seemingly borrowed from Pixar.
    Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 4 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Jeffrey Kuhlman, an attorney representing the county, did not return a phone call Tuesday afternoon.
    Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 12 Nov. 2025
  • While pursuing her eventual goal of becoming a practicing attorney, Kardashian has also become an advocate for criminal justice reform.
    Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • There’s her character Maia, an overachieving perfectionist who is white knuckling her way through her career despite few connections and a boss who is not all that concerned with her upward mobility.
    Katie Campione, Deadline, 2 Nov. 2025
  • That’s a meaningful admission coming from a guy who often seems like a musical perfectionist.
    Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Pettifogger.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pettifogger. Accessed 13 Nov. 2025.

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