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
Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
But Timber has also suffered a couple of niggles that saw Thomas Partey shifted to right back.
—Jordan Campbell, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
Andy Naylor, The Athletic, 9 Feb. 2025
In his first season back, Cazorla played 26 games in all competitions, providing four assists, but niggling injuries hampered his contribution.
—Dermot Corrigan, The Athletic, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for niggle
Verb
Osaka, who battled plenty of niggles through 2024 and ended the season early with a back injury, won the first set of her final against Clara Tauson before retiring with an abdominal injury.
—Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
But Timber has also suffered a couple of niggles that saw Thomas Partey shifted to right back.
—Jordan Campbell, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
Noun
That has been due to niggling injury issues, rather than a reflection of the quality of his contributions.
—Andy Naylor, The Athletic, 9 Feb. 2025
In his first season back, Cazorla played 26 games in all competitions, providing four assists, but niggling injuries hampered his contribution.
—Dermot Corrigan, The Athletic, 16 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for niggle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for niggle
Verb
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Some residents and candidates have complained that Area Towing often overcharged customers, unaware of the costs when getting their vehicles towed.—
Niraj Warikoo,
Freep.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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Republicans complain about the district’s heavy Democratic lean.—
Naomi Lim,
The Washington Examiner,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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One quibble: the notable lack of San Diego beers made this a bittersweet read.—
Peter Rowe,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 July 2025
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Send your wine questions and quibbles to sethebarlowwine@gmail.com Support journalism that digs deeper into topics that matter most to Arkansans.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Her last qualms were with schools that get grants to buy supplies, including computers, for example.—
Victoria Uwumarogie,
Essence,
6 Aug. 2025
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But the 26-year-old pop singer-songwriter has no qualms about that.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
1 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Inside, Seán glanced briefly away from the television as the women fussed at Orla’s return.—
Anne Enright,
New Yorker,
27 July 2025
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But other times, windows would be rearranged seemingly at random, with unused space and weird gaps that require you to fuss around and move all your windows around again.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
24 July 2025
Noun
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At this stage, the United States has spent plenty for Ukraine’s sovereignty — often over the objections of Trump himself, but the expenditures have been made.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
14 Aug. 2025
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Despite that finding and Clapp’s objections, council members are still moving forward with the plan.—
Alex Derosier,
Twin Cities,
13 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The airburst arrived almost a minute and a half after the tremor.—
Charles Pellegrino,
Rolling Stone,
6 Aug. 2025
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The tremor struck just over a mile southwest of Hillsdale, New Jersey, at about 12:11 p.m. ET, and had a depth of about seven miles, according to USGS.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The market will nitpick a couple of areas in the quarter over the next few days, including questioning why AWS didn't deliver the same type of revenue upside as rivals Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.—
Jeff Marks,
CNBC,
1 Aug. 2025
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Some customers aren’t thrilled with their nitpicking nature.—
Andrew Nusca,
Fortune,
10 July 2025
Noun
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The oil-rich country is plagued by corruption and relies on international aid to help feed its 11 million people – a challenge that has only grown since the Trump administration made sweeping cuts to foreign assistance.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
13 Aug. 2025
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Eminem is never one to back down from a rap challenge, and after being called out by LL Cool J’s Rock The Bells platform on X, Slim Shady delivered.—
Michael Saponara,
Billboard,
13 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Niggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggle. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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