Definition

Verb: 1. To argue or quibble over trivial or insignificant details: To engage in petty, often legalistic, argumentation, focusing on minor points rather than the substance of an issue.

Usage and Examples

• General Argument: To engage in a petty, unnecessary dispute.
  • The committee meeting was unproductive because they spent the whole time pettifogging about the wording of the agenda.
  • Instead of addressing the main complaint, the customer service representative chose to pettifog about the exact time the email was sent.
• Legal Context: To practice law in a petty, unscrupulous, or overly technical manner.
  • The lawyer was known to pettifog, using minor technicalities to delay the proceedings.

Advanced Usage

• "To pettifog over something": To argue contentiously about a specific minor point.
  • We cannot afford to pettifog over the font size when the entire document's content is flawed.

Variants and Related Words

• Pettifogger (noun): A person who quibbles over trivial details, especially a lawyer who uses petty or dishonest methods.
  • He was dismissed as a mere pettifogger who obstructed justice with technicalities.
• Pettifoggery (noun): The practice of arguing over trivialities; petty, legalistic trickery.
  • The contract was full of legal pettifoggery designed to confuse the signatory.

Synonyms

• Quibble: To argue or complain about small, unimportant matters.
• Cavil: To make petty or unnecessary objections.
• Split hairs: To make excessively fine distinctions.
• Bicker: To argue about petty and trivial matters.

Antonyms

• Concede: To admit that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.
• Agree: To have the same opinion about something.
• Substantiate: To provide evidence to support or prove the truth of something (focusing on substance, not trivialities).

Verb

1. argue over petty things
   • Let's not quibble over pennies