Pettifogger

//ˈpɛtɪˌfɒɡə// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Someone who quibbles over trivia, and raises petty, annoying objections and sophistry.

    "Hence the cunning measure of appointing as ambassador some political pettifogger skilled in delays, sophisms, and misapprehensions, and dexterous in the art of baffling argument."

  2. 2
    a disputant who quibbles; someone who raises annoying petty objections wordnet
  3. 3
    An unscrupulous or unethical lawyer, especially one of lesser skill.

    ""An inn, or a tavern . . . these are places where greasy citizens take pipe and pot, where the knavish pettifoggers of the law spunge on their most unhappy victims."

  4. 4
    a person (especially a lawyer or politician) who uses unscrupulous or unethical methods wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
shysterquibblershysterambulance chaserbelittlerbunco artist

Example

More examples

"Hence the cunning measure of appointing as ambassador some political pettifogger skilled in delays, sophisms, and misapprehensions, and dexterous in the art of baffling argument."

Etymology

petty + fogger

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.