as in slight
old-fashioned
worrying too much about details that are minor or not important
pettifogging lawyers
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pettifogging
Adjective
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The rear camera's OIS yields mostly smooth video, but there's some slight bumpiness here and there.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
10 Apr. 2025 -
Dawn came on chilly with a slight overcast and a light breeze.—
Jeffrey A. Brunk,
Outdoor Life,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Image In Davao, Mr. Duterte remains widely popular, remembered for cracking down on problems like drugs, petty crime and violence.—
Aie Balagtas See,
New York Times,
5 Apr. 2025
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Where Hub once pursued petty criminals, he’s now charged with rounding up escaped demons by the Devil himself.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
3 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Known for: Its tiny colorful bags, like Le Bisou, Mini Chiquito, and Bambino.—
Jake Henry Smith,
Glamour,
10 Apr. 2025
-
With packaging like a tiny liquid liner, the semi-sheer formula applies easily onto skin—for an extra natural look, gently tap on your faux freckle dots then blend out with your fingers or a small brush.—
Conçetta Ciarlo,
Vogue,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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While the whole collection starts at 1,150 euros for a slimline bracelet with a minute buckle motif and goes up to over a million euros for its high jewelry designs, most of its models currently sit in the low four-figure range.—
Lily Templeton,
WWD,
14 Mar. 2025
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At this level, there are usually minute differences between animals that make the cut and those that don’t.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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With that much water needed for even the most trifling tasks, the natural question becomes: How does that water reach those data centers, let alone the world’s farms and factories?—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
28 May 2010
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And yet the movie’s insularity feels trifling and empty.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Feb. 2024
Adjective
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The biggest reason: New York’s discovery law allows cases to be dismissed even for trivial, fixable discovery violations.—
Jane Manning,
New York Daily News,
31 Mar. 2025
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If anything, becoming a weird little guy, by my definition, is about rejecting the despair that leads down those kinds of regressive paths, and daring to care about something, even — and perhaps especially — if that something might seem kind of dumb or trivial to the outside world.—
James Factora,
Them.,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Even with Hollywood’s diminished state in China, the film business is one sector where the U.S. maintains a sizable trade surplus with its geopolitical rival, as Chinese films, despite their enormous earnings in the home market, have made little headway with mainstream North American moviegoers.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Apr. 2025
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For starters, the clear formula comes in a cute little bottle that looks more like a serum than tanning drops.—
Alanna Martine Kilkeary,
Glamour,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Then, the pandemic reduced the schedule to 60 games and Eddie got a piddling 37%.—
Star Tribune,
Star Tribune,
3 Dec. 2020
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Millions of additional claims are expected to stream in from around the country over the coming weeks, while hiring remains piddling.—
Patricia Cohen,
New York Times,
23 Apr. 2020
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“Pettifogging.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pettifogging. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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