pettifogging

adjective

Definition of pettifoggingnext
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
  1. slight
  2. petty
  3. tiny
  4. minute
  5. trifling
  6. little
  7. trivial
  8. piddling
Adjective
  • In the for-pay security suite, the VPN gets a slight bandwidth boost, doubling the free limit to 1 gigabyte per month.
    — Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The tadpoles — some descended from frogs in the San Jacinto Mountains and others from the San Bernardino Mountains — were separated into two groups because of their slight genetic differences.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of slight
Adjective
  • Now there seems to be a petty attempt to call out cheating when no cheating took place.
    — Matt Calkins OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Harness it wisely, and try not to waste it on petty arguments.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of petty
Adjective
  • The daily drawing of rangoli threshold designs with rice flour is thought to feed the many souls of birds, ants, and other tiny creatures.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Sep. 2026
  • From the factory, this Asus Vivobook 14 comes with a pretty tiny 256GB internal drive, but adding a 512GB external SSD gives you twice the additional storage space.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of tiny
Adjective
  • Some people even enjoy minute quantities as a recreational drug.
    — Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2026
  • There are so many models out there from so many manufacturers, with minute differences between them.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 25 June 2026
Definition of minute
Adjective
  • Cut to terra ferma, where the almighty rainstorm soaking the streets of Rome seems a comparatively trifling bit of weather.
    — Guy Lodge, Variety, 7 Sep. 2026
  • In less trifling hands, there’s no telling what these tools could do, are doing now.
    — CHRIS COLIN, Wired News, 18 May 2026
Definition of trifling
Adjective
  • But little progress has been made towards implementing a deal to end the conflict, which includes terms for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its troops.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The Salem witch trials of 1692 carved out an enduring and powerful niche in American history for this little town, and this intimate, kitschy museum does an excellent job telling the story.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of little
Adjective
  • That’s the same reason as why knots in dimension three become trivial or all the same in dimension four.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The agent is better, but the value gained is trivial against what the agent costs.
    — Manu Khetan, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of trivial
Adjective
  • Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.
    — Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 2020
  • Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling.
    — Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2020
Definition of piddling
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.

Browse Nearby Words

pettifoggers
pettifogging
pettiness
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Cite this Entry

“Pettifogging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pettifogging. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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