Synonyms of niggling

niggling 1 of 2

adjective

ˈni-g(ə-)liŋ 

as in slight

so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention

only niggling differences between the original Broadway musical and the film version that followed

Synonyms & Similar Words

• slight
• nominal
• petty
• tiny
• trivial
• piddling
• trifling
• insignificant
• picayune
• inconsequential
• negligible
• footling
• inconsiderable
• piffling
• minute
• piddly
• pimping
• paltry
• Mickey Mouse
• measly
• chicken
• little
• no-account
• imperceptible
• de minimis
• peanut
• puny
• inappreciable
• pettifogging
• quibbling
• nitpicking
• mean
• inferior
• small-fry
• hairsplitting
• one-horse
• two-bit

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• considerable
• important
• significant
• serious
• big
• substantial
• material
• consequential
• prominent
• outstanding
• striking
• remarkable
• conspicuous
• noteworthy
• weighty
• momentous
• pivotal
• appreciable
• measurable
• discernible
• eventful

niggling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of niggle

as in complaining

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

• complaining
• quibbling
• fussing
• moaning
• carping
• nitpicking
• whining
• muttering
• caviling
• splitting hairs
• grumbling
• bitching
• criticizing
• squealing
• faulting
• kicking
• griping
• yammering
• grousing
• squawking
• whimpering
• wailing
• growling
• murmuring
• beefing
• yowling
• kvetching
• bellyaching
• yawping
• croaking
• crabbing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• recommending
• praising
• commending
• supporting
• applauding
• approving
• backing
• complimenting
• endorsing
• championing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of niggling

Adjective

As the kids grow up and move out, and as your space starts feeling like a little too much upkeep, a niggling thought about downsizing may start to grow louder. — Wendy Rose Gould, Martha Stewart, 7 July 2026

Their season has been busy, grumpy and overstretched, and pressure has been a niggling, constant companion, particularly at home, but their opponents on Sunday were hapless, soft in defence and muddled in their thinking. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 18 May 2026

The sellers got slightly more than their asking price without any niggling 11th-hour negotiations. — Kim Velsey, Curbed, 29 Aug. 2024

And yet, a niggling sense of loss remains after the season 5 finale; many of Diana’s most important moments and relationships are relegated to a handful of scenes. — Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 10 Nov. 2022

Verb

Today the danger is swarms of malevolent AI agents, the CEOs in question run frontier labs, and legal niggling risks holding up an urgent safety conversation. — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 17 Sep. 2026

For Neal, there was always a niggling concern that fans of the pod wouldn’t return to the series, but thankfully this couldn’t have been further from the eventual truth. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2026

The new calculation, made at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, could help solve a niggling mystery about this particle’s mass. — Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2026

Henry dismisses Yasmin but can’t shake the niggling feeling that his wife isn’t entirely wrong. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 16 Feb. 2026

There are niggling, nagging, familiar concerns, like not taking chances, like being hit on the counter, but our section erupts when Willock scores and then erupts again when his goal is ruled out. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026

The hard part of getting cars to drive themselves is the last niggling 1 percent of reliability. — IEEE Spectrum, 18 Oct. 2016