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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This marked a slight increase on figures from August, during which time Moscow claimed to have downed 2,786 Ukrainian drones at an average rate of nearly 90 per day.—
David Brennan,
ABC News,
1 Oct. 2025 -
International undergraduate enrollment stayed the same, with a slight increase in international freshmen, Miner said.—
David Ferrara,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In their recommendation, Warner and Kaine said Nachmanoff supervised a team that represented more than 2,500 clients accused of federal violations ranging from petty offenses to capital murder.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
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Phantom Thread is a masterfully claustrophobic portrayal of a ’50s fashion house, as well as a nuanced depiction of a petty despot ruling over his small kingdom.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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On a soupy September morning in northeast Wisconsin, a blue semi-truck arrives at Tisch Mills Farm Center in the tiny town of Carlton.—
Miranda Dunlap,
jsonline.com,
6 Oct. 2025
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In an ideal world, a tiny home could provide the ideal solution for in-laws to have space to visit your home for extended visits.—
Chaunie Brusie,
Parents,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Even if a harvester can outgas regolith reliably, separating minute traces of helium-3 from helium-4 and other gases at low mass fractions requires sophisticated cryogenic or membrane systems.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Sep. 2025
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This is a story about two young people who find each other, fall madly in love, and are then torn apart by unimaginable disaster — one rendered by the obsessive director in minute, breathless, excruciating detail.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Talk of mounting nuclear readiness towards Russia, which has more atomic weapons than any other country in the world, could overshadow more trifling domestic matters, like the Epstein scandal, for instance.—
Matthew Chance,
CNN Money,
2 Aug. 2025
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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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For Washington, this was no trivial matter.—
Maurizio Valsania,
The Conversation,
2 Oct. 2025
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Afterward, a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) investigation concluded that the economic impact was small, but not trivial.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Shane Hubbard, a UW-Madison research scientist specializing in damage and loss estimation from disasters, said that misunderstandings of what type of insurance offers the most protection result in homeowners being left with hefty bills and little government assistance.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
6 Oct. 2025
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The clues have been there from the start, the little touches that aligned Grasso’s bifurcated personality with Tom and Robbie’s.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.—
Star Tribune,
Star Tribune,
3 Dec. 2020
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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
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Cite this Entry
“Pettifogging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pettifogging. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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