petty-fogger

A form of pettyfogger — Someone who quibbles over trifles.

Meanings

nounpetty-fogger (plural petty-foggers)

plural petty-foggers

  1. alternativeAlternative form of pettyfogger.

    This Fellow, I ſay, ſtiled himſelf a Lawyer, but was indeed a moſt vile Petty-fogger, without Senſe or Knowledge of any Kind; one of thoſe who may be termed Train-bearers to the Law; [...]

    1749, Henry Fielding, “Jones Arrives at Gloucester, and Goes to the Bell; the Character of that House, and of a Petty-fogger, which He there Meets with”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VIII, page 110
Cite this entry
APA

petty-fogger. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petty-fogger

MLA

“petty-fogger.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petty-fogger. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “petty-fogger,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petty-fogger.

Source: petty-fogger on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.