Synonyms for pettifoggery
Most common
Definitions
- n. 1
The actions of a pettifogger; a trivial quarrel.
He was capable of using lawyerly rhetoric, at times, to the brink of pettifoggery.
Forms
- Plural
- pettifoggeries → fusses, spats, tiffs, bickerings…
Example sentences
- fuss It doesn't become a gentleman to fuss over trifles.
- spat I couldn't believe he actually spat me on my face.
- bickering All this bickering is starting to fray my nerves.
- squabble The diplomatic squabble flared into an open war.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| pettifoggery | falling | |
| fuss | rising | |
| spat | rising | |
| bickering | rising | |
| squabble | rising | |
| hypercriticism | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- fuss1, spat1, tiff1
- 6 letters
- bicker2
- 7 letters
- quibble2
- 8 letters
- squabble2
- 9 letters
- bickering3
- 14 letters
- hypercriticism
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (bicker2 = 2 syllables).