NIGGLING Synonyms: 101 Similar and Opposite Words

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

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

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

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

After the unremarkable Chip Kelly recruiting era, which begat a slight bump under DeShaun Foster, what first-year coach Bob Chesney has done, before coaching a game, has been downright remarkable.

— Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 9 May 2026
The video shows slight puffs of smoke from the Sea Star’s smokestack, and then darker smoke rising from it after the strike.

— Mitchell McCluskey, CNN Money, 9 May 2026