1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

pettifogging

adjective

Definition of pettifoggingnext
as in slight
old-fashioned worrying too much about details that are minor or not important pettifogging lawyers

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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
  • Concerns about this recent deceleration aside, a slight quarter-to-quarter boost is obviously preferable to the bundle’s comparable loss of 953,000 customers between the first and second quarters of this year.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • There’s only a slight chance for thunderstorms over the weekend and the sun icon, missing for days and days, now shines on its main webpage.
    — Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 23 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
  • This year, alluding to the president’s petty penchant for renaming things, the town has changed its name from South Park to South America, altering the theme song, local signage and local speech, without protest.
    — Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of petty
Adjective
  • Because batteries in wearable devices are tiny, and 5G cellular chips can instantly cut a wearable’s battery life by half, analysts expect the devices to remain tethered to a phone for at least the next five to 10 years.
    — Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 24 Sep. 2026
  • How to try the arugula trick at home The actual habit is tiny.
    — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 23 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
  • If that prediction misses, then manufacturers have little opportunity to change course.
    — Sally C. Pipes, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2026
  • But my little Outlander sweeties, this is not just any reverend, this is Reverend Wakefield.
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of little
Adjective
  • One of the most interesting and useful things that romantic drama, classic or modern, can do is to distinguish essential characteristics from trivial ones.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 9 Sep. 2026
  • At the same time, the impact/value can be low when autonomous operations are only applied to trivial, time-consuming tasks.
    — Karthik Kannan, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 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
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pettifogging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pettifogging. Accessed 26 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All