Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pettifoggery

/ˈpɛti.fɒɡ.ə.ɹi/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: pet-ti-fog-gery
IPA: /ˈpɛti.fɒɡ.ə.ɹi/

22

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The actions of a pettifogger; a trivial quarrel.

Example Sentences

"He was capable of using lawyerly rhetoric, at times, to the brink of pettifoggery."
"Yet even Harlan was to prove capable of grievous pettifoggery on the racial issue."
"[Frankfurter's reasoning in Beauharnais v. Illinois] struck Black and the other three Roosevelt appointees who joined his dissent as noxious pettifoggery[.]"
"The idea that a minor bureaucratic restructuring could have made any difference in the time of Trump reflected how immune bureaucratic pettifoggery is to reality."

Etymology

Etymology tree English pettifogger Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Old French -ier Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French -eriebor. Middle English -erie English -ery English pettifoggery From pettifogger + -ery.

Regional Pronunciation

British English: /ˈpɛti.fɒɡ.ə.ɹi/

Inflected Forms

pettifoggeries (plural)

Synonyms

fuss quibble spat squabble tiff bicker bickering

Questions

How do you pronounce pettifoggery?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpɛti.fɒɡ.ə.ɹi/.
What does pettifoggery mean?: The actions of a pettifogger; a trivial quarrel.
Where does pettifoggery come from?: Etymology tree English pettifogger Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Old French -ier Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French -eriebor. Middle English -erie English -ery English pettifoggery From pettifogger + -ery.

How to pronounce pettifoggery

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