NIGGLING Synonyms: 101 Similar and Opposite Words

niggling 1 of 2

adjective

ˈni-g(ə-)liŋ

Definition of niggling

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

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.

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

Pick’s comments weren’t in response to a niggling analyst question but in his prepared remarks, a clear signpost. — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 16 July 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for niggling

Adjective

Shares slid 2% after the regional bank reported a slight earnings miss in its second-quarter financial report.

— Davis Giangiulio, CNBC, 17 July 2026
One minor point over that version is that on the Switch, there is a slight pause when spoken audio or video is loaded in.

— Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026

Definition of slight

Verb

In short order, users started complaining about multiple system reboots rather than the one expected with a security update.

— Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
Nights in a restaurant are often spent describing flavors, in sensory attention—at least when they aren’t filled with flirting with your coworkers or complaining about guests.

— Kyle Lucia Wu, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 July 2026

Definition of complaining

Adjective

Current bond yields, which tend to track nominal GDP trends, are still reflecting the rise in inflation that occurred during Covid.

— Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 20 July 2026
The walls had a nominal utility as fences for the dairy herd that was milked in the great white cow barn, but this was only ever a Gilded Age fantasy of the rustic idyll.

— Matt Seaton, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026

Definition of nominal

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

Adjective

The Greek myths are rife with petty and meddlesome deities squabbling, playing favorites, punishing harshly, and otherwise wreaking havoc on the lives of mortal men.

— Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 17 July 2026
In each social-commentary-teetering-on-horror episode, Nanno is a pupil at a different school, picture perfect and scanning the room for whatever secrets — an abusive teacher, an absurd hierarchical system, petty jealousy — demand to be revealed.

— Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026

Definition of petty

Adjective

This allows the hybrid system to operate continuously for days or even weeks with a tiny power system.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 18 July 2026
That gives the three imminent data centers in Miami-Dade a tinier footprint than the headline makers elsewhere in the state, said Margaret Cook, vice president of water and community resilience at the Houston Advanced Research Center.

— Alexandra Phelps, Miami Herald, 17 July 2026

Definition of tiny

Verb

Swinging his hips, moaning into the mic and briefly getting promiscuous with a mic stand was the authenticity that the majority-millennial crowd expected.

— Sophie Lindberg July 11, Kansas City Star, 12 July 2026
Federal officers stand over a man with a bloody shirt who is handcuffed face down, moaning in pain as his left foot shakes.

— Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026

Definition of moaning

Cite this Entry

Style

“Niggling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggling. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of niggling

adjective

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on niggling

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

itinerant

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 24

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?

Popular

Democracy or Republic: What's the difference?

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes