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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of niggling
Andy Naylor, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2025
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
Adjective
Numerous niggling absences across the pre-season programme, plus the loss of Adam Webster for most of the campaign with knee ligament damage sustained in a non-contact incident in training during the camp in Spain in July, do not bode well on that front.
—Andy Naylor, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for niggling
Adjective
-
Barefoot driving is legal in all 50 states, with the one slight exception being Alabama where footwear is required on motorcycles.—
Georgea Kovanis,
The Courier-Journal,
3 Sep. 2025
-
Mail-in voting is now more popular among Democrats In the 2008 presidential election, there was only a slight difference in the popularity of mail-in voting by political party, according to a data analysis by Charles Stewart, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab.—
Carlie Procell,
USA Today,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Nah — not very long later, Tony is referencing his Bond obsession, complaining about the generic name of the secret drone-control computer program everyone is battling for here.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
-
But everybody was complaining and asking for a hot one.—
Andy Wang,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Is this the flipside of a higher nominal-growth metabolism across the world?—
Michael Santoli,
CNBC,
2 Sep. 2025
-
On the eve of World War I, Britain’s total debt, in nominal pounds, was about the same as 1819.—
Nathan Lewis,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
That might seem like nitpicking, except this is a franchise that has had the luxury of starting-caliber linemen as reserves.—
Zach Berman,
New York Times,
17 Aug. 2025
-
Still, with star power and depth at all three levels of the defense, pointing out weaknesses is an act of nitpicking at this point.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Take a trip to 2099, with Star Amerasu’s hysterical and clever social-media videos set in our very petty future.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
27 Aug. 2025
-
The film explores the petty jealousies and power dynamics that fuel the group of interchangeable young men in Oliver’s orbit, as Matthew gradually becomes famous by association and fights to stay relevant.—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
23 Aug. 2025
Verb
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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
Adjective
-
And in the case of this particular tiny home, the Timberline model by Amazon brand Allwood, that picture-perfect retreat is just a click away.—
Miles Walls,
Better Homes & Gardens,
8 Sep. 2025
-
So pack that sunscreen, toss a floppy hat into your weekend bag, and get ready to sip fruity drinks with tiny umbrellas.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This was the mid 1980s and tandem skydiving hadn’t been popularized yet, so his father, Roger, adjusted accordingly by stuffing carpet padding into the leg pads to stop him from fussing.—
Angelina Liu,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Niggling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggling. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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