caviling 1 of 2

variants or cavilling

caviling

2 of 2

verb

variants or cavilling
present participle of cavil

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for caviling
Adjective
  • This figure has already surpassed the 1,274 cases recorded during the peak year of 2019, marking a critical public health milestone reached just halfway through 2025.
    Adeola Adeosun, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 July 2025
  • From there, the first-year MLS club made two critical defensive errors.
    Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 July 2025
Verb
  • The irony of the quintessential real estate expert buying a home in the flight path of an international airport, then complaining about the noise, is not lost on the rest of Palm Beach County.
    Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 8 Jan. 2025
  • That first-round pick became Merriman (although, the Giants aren't complaining).
    Ryan Morik, Fox News, 8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • So much of the new sobriety flex is anathema to the captious alcoholics of 12-step groups.
    Virginia Heffernan, Wired, 19 Apr. 2022
  • That a right-wing party traditionally captious about American patriotism did not react heatedly to evidence of Russian interference in US elections is bizarre.
    Darryl Pinckney, The New York Review of Books, 5 Nov. 2020
Adjective
  • My hypercritical brain took this imperfection and ran with it.
    Jailynn Taylor, Allure, 26 June 2025
  • This has led to multiple fans getting hypercritical of the iconic wrestler, calling out his age and accusing him of simply being a product of former WCW president Eric Bischoff.
    Jeremy Hanna, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
Adjective
  • In a working building, often the best option is a judicious simulacrum.
    Justin Davidson, Curbed, 10 July 2025
  • Consider the judicious swapping of a line from Percy Bysshe Shelley for a line from C. Louis Leipoldt.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 10 July 2025
Verb
  • The whining about everyone else didn’t help, either.
    Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2024
  • Stop whining and thank your lucky stars for having a job.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Caviling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caviling. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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