pettifogger
/ˈpɛtiˌfɔɡər/
noun
- A lawyer who uses petty, dishonest, or unethical methods, especially by focusing on trivial details.
- No one trusted that pettifogger because he always twisted the facts.
- The novel's villain was a pettifogger who cheated his clients.
- The judge warned the pettifogger to stop wasting the court's time with irrelevant arguments.
- A person who argues over minor or unimportant matters in a quarrelsome way.
- My uncle is such a pettifogger that he once argued about the price of a penny candy for an hour.
- Don't be a pettifogger; let's focus on the main issue.
- The committee meeting turned into a mess because of one pettifogger who objected to every small point.