as in to complain
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant
you know it drives me crazy when you niggle like that
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in quibble
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in qualm
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of niggle
New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2025
Some of the tweaks to personnel have been born out of necessity, through suspensions (Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill and Liam Delap) or injury niggles (e.g. Romeo Lavia and Reece James).
—Mark Carey, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Wayne Chan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 June 2025
In contrast, Pritzker took a more assertive posture during the hearing in which he was also niggled on off-topics, including Illinois’s transgender policies.
—Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for niggle
Verb
Cambridge Audio appears to have taken minor niggles from its user community to heart and this update is the result.
—New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2025
Some of the tweaks to personnel have been born out of necessity, through suspensions (Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill and Liam Delap) or injury niggles (e.g. Romeo Lavia and Reece James).
—Mark Carey, New York Times, 11 July 2025
Noun
There’s been a series of niggling frustrations in my life the last few weeks.
—Wayne Chan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 June 2025
In contrast, Pritzker took a more assertive posture during the hearing in which he was also niggled on off-topics, including Illinois’s transgender policies.
—Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 13 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for niggle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for niggle
Verb
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In that appearance, Thilly moonwalked across the floor and performed a backspin before using his allotted five minutes to complain about rising taxes, according to CBS News New York.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
25 Oct. 2025
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Another woman, 59, complained of back pain, per the outlets.—
Colson Thayer,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But Swenson does have a quibble.—
Steve Fryer,
Oc Register,
17 Oct. 2025
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Earlier, Banks and I had spoken some about mutual quibbles with the racial politics in One Battle After Another—a divisive subject at this hootenanny.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Much of Jana’s campaign echoes the qualms already raised by the other activists in the stock, including the company’s potential to unlock value by reinvigorating the business as a standalone company with a new CEO and/or monetizing the real estate, or even selling the entire company.—
Kenneth Squire,
CNBC,
24 Oct. 2025
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Many have such qualms due to the pricing problem.—
Thomas Elias,
Mercury News,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But practically speaking, this vodka mixes easily and well without having to fuss too much.—
Jeff Burkhart,
Mercury News,
15 Oct. 2025
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By re-creating the relevant latent representations, and not the missing pixels of earlier systems, the model learns to see the cars on the road and not fuss about the leaves on the trees.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
3 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The federal agency’s power to green-light sports betting nationwide is the subject of legal objections from states and tribal groups.—
Dan Bernstein,
Sportico.com,
28 Oct. 2025
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Few beside farmers voice objections.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Clavel’s isn’t an especially showy performance, but one of impressive precision, suggesting entire emotional worlds through the smallest gestures — a glance withheld or a tremor in the voice.—
Catherine Bray,
Variety,
31 Oct. 2025
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Weak shaking has been registered and several people reported experiencing the tremor in and around the Healdsburg area according to the USGS DYFI report.—
CA Earthquake Bot,
Sacbee.com,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Ultimately, though, Braun’s priority through all the number-nitpicking negotiations was to stay in Denver.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
21 Oct. 2025
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Just keep an eye on the run defense In a dominating win like Sunday’s, looking for any negatives is nitpicking, but the Cowboys’ run defense struggles are worth highlighting.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
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More planning and discussion are needed to tackle the challenge and find the funding needed, Hall said.—
Penny Weaver,
Arkansas Online,
30 Oct. 2025
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And thank you, Survivor gods for not having Uli lose the immunity challenge, which would have led to yet another super obvious vote, this time of my preseason pick to win it all, Nate.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Niggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggle. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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