niggling 1 of 2

niggling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of niggle

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
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
Verb
By making a subtle tweak out of possession, Slot looks to have addressed an issue that was niggling away at his side despite last season’s title victory. Mark Carey, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for niggling
Adjective
  • Return with a slight counter-rotation and complete more reps as desired.
    Jakob Roze, Health, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Looking ahead to 2026, Coke is projecting a slight tail wind to both its revenue and comparable earnings from currency fluctuations.
    Amelia Lucas, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • Foulla Niotis says her 17-year-old daughter, Maria, and Maria's best friend, Isabella Salas, were run down and killed by Maria's stalker despite months of complaining to police.
    Eric Shawn, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2025
  • For Gen Z, complaining can be a way to set boundaries, speak up, and try to hold companies accountable.
    Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Maresca’s midfield featured Moises Caicedo, nominal full-back Malo Gusto, and Enzo Fernandez operating higher than usual in Palmer’s absence.
    Cerys Jones, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2025
  • Drake sought nominal, compensatory, and punitive damages, plus legal fees.
    Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • 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
  • Venus in Virgo loves precision, but be careful not to slide into scarcity thinking or nitpicking your progress.
    Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • But, God, to be able to play a Pablo Escobar who was just petty and wanted friends, there was something so stupid and so hilarious about that to me.
    Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2025
  • These can be petty but hard to avoid today.
    Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 15 Oct. 2025
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
Adjective
  • This causes the PPy and PSS to separate into tiny regions, creating thousands of junctions where electrons and ions interact.
    Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2025
  • Founded in 1777, Lexington is home to both Washington & Lee University and Virginia Military Institute (VMI), and the presence of the universities no doubt plays a part in a cultural richness that punches above its weight class for a tiny town of just 7,000 people.
    Heather Bien, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • With five blades sandwiched between two moisturizing bars, this razor speeds up the entire process (no fussing around with shaving cream), nourishing dry skin and making nicks a rare occurrence.
    Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
  • 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

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Cite this Entry

“Niggling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggling. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

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