pettifogger
/ (ˈpɛtɪˌfɒɡə) /
a lawyer of inferior status who conducts unimportant cases, esp one who is unscrupulous or resorts to trickery
any person who quibbles or fusses over details
Origin of pettifogger
1Derived forms of pettifogger
- pettifoggery, noun
Words Nearby pettifogger
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use pettifogger in a sentence
Now, which was the best pedigree, that of the son of the pastry-cook, or that of the son of the pettifogger?
The Romany Rye | George BorrowThinking it well beneath me to measure words with this knavish pettifogger, I looked beyond him and spoke to his master.
The Master of Appleby | Francis LyndeA happy thought suggested itself—one worthy of the unscrupulous theological pettifogger that he is.
Abraham Lincoln: Was He A Christian? | John B. Remsburgpettifogger, pet′i-fog-ėr, n. a lawyer who practises only in paltry cases.
Anything can be proved by two false witnesses—thinks the pettifogger.
Plays--First Series | August Strindberg
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