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
  • Although this represents a slight premium compared to the broader gaming industry mean, Wynn's justifies a premium.
    — Michael Khouw, CNBC, 11 Nov. 2026
  • The Chiefs were pushed back 5 yards and on the do-over, Malcolm Roach sacked Mahomes, who complained afterward that Moore's movement was so slight as to not merit a flag in that crucial situation.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of slight
Adjective
  • Morrow is a 45-year-old woman convicted of misdemeanor assault and three petty offenses for blocking a Department of Homeland Security building and touching an agent’s shoulder in south Charlotte last November.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 5 Nov. 2026
  • More recently, Newsom has resisted calls to fund Proposition 36, a ballot measure that levies harsher penalties for petty crime that voters overwhelmingly approved in 2024.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of petty
Adjective
  • The tiny island is a wildlife reserve and nesting seabird colony of native species, including the brown booby and frigate.
    — Pedro Portal, Miami Herald, 12 Nov. 2026
  • When the coating dries, tiny cracks naturally form across its surface.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026
Definition of tiny
Adjective
  • Speaking at Deadline’s Sound & Screen Film, composer Michael Abels referenced a scene in which a man recounts his alien encounter while going to the bathroom in minute detail.
    — Fred Topel, Deadline, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Royal experts love to identify the rarest, most historical pieces royals are wearing, and the jewelry’s long lineage is often recounted in minute detail.
    — Katherine J Igoe, InStyle, 3 Nov. 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
  • While sharing little in common with dueling-guitar acts such as the Allman Brothers Band or ’70s contemporaries the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, Television also drew its power from the preternatural rapport between Verlaine and Lloyd’s instruments.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026
  • The lines of control in the country changed little for years, and a truce was reached in 2022.
    — AHMED HATEM, Arkansas Online, 8 Nov. 2026
Definition of little
Adjective
  • These sounds are strange bedfellows, but the delirium rarely feels indulgent or trivial.
    — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Wiring the Teensy to the magnetic-imaging tile was trivial, only complicated by the fact that one side of the board has a silk-screen error that misidentifies the SPI connections (SparkFun says this will be fixed in future runs of the board).
    — Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of trivial
Adjective
  • Chris regards his role in the deaths and disappearances of thousands of innocents with a weary shrug—and, on rare dark nights of the soul, a piddling note of regret.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.
    — Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 3 Dec. 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 13 Nov. 2026.

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