pettifoggery
- noun
- /ˌpɛtɪˈfɔɡəri/
- Archaic
:
discusiones triviales
- His reputation for pettifoggery made him unpopular in board meetings.
Examples
-
The debate descended into pettifoggery over irrelevant technicalities.
-
His constant pettifoggery during meetings frustrates everyone.
-
Fed up with the pettifoggery of his colleagues, she called for a decision to be made.
-
Don't engage in pettifoggery if you want to be taken seriously.
-
The lawyer's constant pettifoggery only delayed the trial without addressing any real issues.
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In meetings, his pettifoggery over minor details frustrated everyone trying to make progress.
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Rather than focusing on solutions, their discussion devolved into pettifoggery about trivial matters.
Synonyms
42
3.9
Repeated small arguments about unimportant things that annoy people
27
4.2
A noisy argument about something unimportant
9
6.2
Being too worried about small unimportant things and not generous
1
8.2
Paying too much attention to small unimportant details in a debate
1
3.0
A small disagreement about something unimportant
1
9.9
Loud, silly talk that has no useful meaning
Arguing about small unimportant details that wastes time and annoys people
A silly, small argument that people make much bigger
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Pettifoggery comes from petty 'small' and an old word fogger for a low lawyer who used tricks, so a pettifogger was someone who argued over tiny points. That's why pettifoggery means arguing about unimportant, small things, often in a sneaky or mean way.