caviling 1 of 2

adjective

variants or cavilling
as in critical
given to making or expressing unfavorable judgments about things a caviling theater critic who has yet to see a play she likes

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

caviling

2 of 2

verb

variants or cavilling
present participle of cavil
as in complaining
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant caviled for hours about a single sentence

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for caviling
  1. critical
  2. complaining
  3. captious
  4. carping
  5. hypercritical
  6. quibbling
  7. fussing
  8. moaning
Adjective
  • Howard also claims the judge rushed a critical closed‑door hearing, limiting the defense's ability to prepare.
    — CBS Texas Staff, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Rosalind Franklin captured the critical X-ray diffraction image that proved the double-helix structure of DNA.
    — Frank Racioppi, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of critical
Verb
  • That Sean Payton won by 20 on the road and still spent a good chunk of his postgame presser either complaining, yammering about Jack Lemmon, or both, is a heck of a good sign.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Luwi was about four years old when his mother began complaining of headaches and joint pain.
    — Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of complaining
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
Definition of captious
Verb
  • Trump’s carping notwithstanding, economic growth spiked during Powell’s first year to 3 percent, the highest since the mid-2000s, and wages rose at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis.
    — Roger Lowenstein, The Atlantic, 16 Jan. 2026
  • Should the pattern hold true throughout the long march to the Super Bowl, nobody’s going to be carping about the official headcount.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Definition of carping
Adjective
  • Wide receiver Mike Evans An 11-time, 1,000-yard receiver needs no token compliments or hypercritical analysis.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 29 July 2026
  • Drowning in bureaucracy and hypercritical of her colleagues, Santos (Isa Briones) could burn out from frustration and resentment.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 17 Apr. 2026
Definition of hypercritical
Verb
  • Joy Randolph and John Early, as the two Afterlife Coordinators, have a quibbling charisma, but the movie should have done more with all its possible versions of paradise, figuring out how to use them comedically instead of just as easy punchlines.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 10 Sep. 2025
  • When the murder of 100,000 people, many of them women and children, is mentioned or denounced, or when someone dares to use terms such as genocide, ethnocide, ethnic cleansing or similar, most people choose to take issue with the characterization, quibbling over semantics.
    — Uriel Kon September 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
Definition of quibbling
Verb
  • Similar to Egypt after its collapse earlier in the week, Switzerland exited fussing about the officiating.
    — Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 12 July 2026
  • Yes, teaching by example is often a better way of handling a challenge than fussing about it.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 17 June 2026
Definition of fussing
Verb
  • Hall wrote in his report that Hamilton lay down in the backseat of the police vehicle, moaning and not responding, prompting first responders to give him Narcan.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Video released by the Milwaukie Police Department shows Descamps sprawled in a hospital bed, his body limp, moaning and drooling, while medical staff stood nearby.
    — Brian Mann, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of moaning
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 25 Aug. 2026.

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