verbpettifogs, pettifogging, pettifogged

• 1archaic Quibble about petty points.

  More example sentences

  • ‘without lifetime careers to preserve, congressmen would be free to debate rather than pettifog’

  Synonyms

  minor criticism, trivial objection, trivial complaint, adverse comment, protest, query, argument, exception, moan, grumble, grouse, cavil

  find fault with, raise trivial objections to, complain about, object to, cavil at, carp about

  1. 1.1Practise legal deception or trickery.
     ‘he will rather pettifog and turn common barrator than be out of employment’
     More example sentences

     • ‘He probably thought the auditors were pettifogging about practices ‘everyone does’ and that different auditors wouldn't be so picky.’
     • ‘They have obfuscated, delayed, lied, backtracked, pettifogged, and cancelled all sorts of commitments under the informal and formal rubrics of the Oslo process.’