adjective
- concerned with unimportant details or minor legal technicalities in a way that is annoying or obstructive
Usage: often derogatory
Examples
- The lawyer’s pettifogging arguments delayed the trial for weeks.
- Stop being so pettifogging about the contract language.
- His pettifogging attention to minor details frustrated his colleagues.
- The committee got bogged down in pettifogging disputes over procedure.
- She dismissed his concerns as pettifogging objections.
- The pettifogging bureaucrat insisted on following every minor regulation.