pettifogger

Definition of pettifogger

Etymology

From petty + fogger.

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈpɛtɪˌf�'ɡə/
• (US) IPA: /ˈpɛtɪˌfɑːɡɚ/, /ˈpɛtɪˌf�"ːɡɚ/
• Audio (US) ^[?]
• Rhymes: -�'ɡə(r)

Noun

pettifogger (plural pettifoggers)

1. Someone who quibbles over trivia, and raises petty, annoying objections.
2. An unscrupulous or unethical lawyer, especially one of lesser skill.
   
   * 1822, Sir Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel, ch. 11:
   "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.
   
   * 1885, The Bay State Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 6:
   . . .yet he has never sought by browbeating and other arts of the pettifogger, to confuse, baffle, and bewilder a witness. . . .
   
   * 1926 June 28, "National Affairs: Blind Mans Huff," Time:
   "Donald Hughes, well known in Minneapolis as a conscienceless shyster, was placed in charge of the case. . . . Mr. Edgerton, a high class, reputable lawyer, was called in of counsel from another city to lend respectability to the crooked, unprincipled, blackmailing pettifogger, Hughes."

Synonyms

• (unscrupulous lawyer): shyster