pettifogging

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Economist described his viewpoint succinctly: “He paints stewards of fair play — regulators and boards — as pettifogging enemies of progress,” wrote its pseudonymous business columnist “Schumpeter.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2022

But the vast majority of our elected representatives overruled the pettifogging legalisms of Kennedy and the others.

From Washington Times • Jan. 13, 2021

On the first day of the Trump impeachment trial, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts uttered the word "pettifogging" to illustrate a point.

From BBC • Jan. 22, 2020

The result is that workers, job-seekers and public services of every kind are subject to a pettifogging, stifling regime of assessment and monitoring, designed to identify the winners and punish the losers.

From The Guardian • Apr. 15, 2016

He characterized Southey’s reviews as cant, Gifford’s as bitter commonplace and Croker’s as pettifogging.

From Leigh Hunt's Relations with Byron, Shelley and Keats by Miller, Barnette