as in slight
old-fashioned
worrying too much about details that are minor or not important
pettifogging lawyers
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pettifogging
Adjective
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The day before the fires ignited, the National Weather Service warned of extreme Valley heat, dry fuels, and a slight chance of thunderstorms.—
Brady Halbleib,
CBS News,
9 Dec. 2025 -
The fight to fill Miami’s mayor office comes to a head on Tuesday evening during a special runoff election as Democrat Eileen Higgins and Republican Emilio González are locked in a tight race, with the Democrat holding a slight lead in early voting.—
Rebecca Morin,
USA Today,
9 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Wembanyama mired his fundamental greatness by either trying too hard to dominate or exerting his physicality in a petty way.—
Mark Medina,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
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Others mention struggling main street shops, potholes and petty crime.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
11 June 2026
Adjective
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The whole episode is a reminder to product designers everywhere that users can be extremely sensitive to the seemingly smallest changes — and Spotify clearly had not anticipated that a teeny-tiny disco ball drop would prove to be unpopular.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
12 June 2026
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Today, Siazon’s pickles can be found at the Sacramento Natural Food Co-op, the Davis Foods Co-op, Corti Brothers, the Kitchen Table locations, Allspicery in East Sacramento and tiny but mighty Superette Market in Land Park.—
Sean Timberlake,
Sacbee.com,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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Thus commences a nearly five minute-long sequence in which delivery trucks arrive and a crowd of nearly 100 Others proceed to re-stock the store.—
Reia Li,
AZCentral.com,
9 Dec. 2025
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None of us would be served by my trying to parse minute shifts in the race post-Bake Off from my sit-stand desk in New York.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
6 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Meanwhile, that global temperature record that DiCaprio mentioned in his acceptance speech in 2016 seems almost trifling compared to what has happened since.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2026
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Pixar has long stood out by bringing something less trifling to theatergoing families.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
15 July 2025
Adjective
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That should represent a non-trivial upgrade from Verizon’s cheapest current unlimited-data subscription, the Unlimited Welcome option introduced in August 2023.—
Rob Pegoraro,
PC Magazine,
16 June 2026
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On Monday in Inglewood, the history was much more fraught, and not at all trivial.—
Mirjam Swanson,
Los Angeles Times,
16 June 2026
Adjective
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This is a global manufacturing hub — has been since the 17th-century, when local farmers needed a side-hustle during harsh winters, and started tinkering with big hands and little hands.—
Jon Wertheim,
CBS News,
8 Dec. 2025
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According to the researchers, the discovery highlights how little is known about deep-ocean ecosystems and underscores the need for rigorous environmental assessments before large-scale mining is allowed to proceed.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
7 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Not the org chart kind, which can be nominal, but the operational kind that survives a reorg.—
Vibhas Ratanjee,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
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That means raising pay in real terms, not merely bestowing nominal bumps which can be wiped out by inflation.—
Randi Weingarten,
Time,
11 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Pettifogging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pettifogging. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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