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
Mark Carey, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
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
-
Nobody who has even a slight awareness of how the organization does business expected the Ravens to trade multiple Day 1/2 draft picks for a player.—
Jeff Zrebiec,
New York Times,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Boston has the opportunity to shell out a qualifying offer for the veteran hurler, which would be a slight raise worth roughly $22 million.—
Shaun McAvoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Dani has fallen asleep, though only after complaining vociferously about the light.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Lyons said store owners had been complaining about the retail for some time.—
Luke Barr,
ABC News,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In addition to the music, train rides will be offered around the park for a nominal fee courtesy of the Poway-Midland Railroad.—
Elizabeth Marie Himchak,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Kim Yong Nam was not related to Kim Jong Un, but his loyalty to the ruling family enabled him to serve as president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly—the country's nominal head of state—from 1998 until April 2019.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Nov. 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
-
Beccuau said the suspects charged so far appear to be petty criminals and blue-collar workers from northern Paris suburbs.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Nov. 2025
-
She also was cited on suspicion of disobeying a police officer, a petty offense that carries a fine.—
Nicquel Terry Ellis,
CNN Money,
2 Nov. 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
Adjective
-
From breezing through paperwork to avoiding unnecessary airport delays, this tiny travel hero proves that sometimes the simplest tools are the most important.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
2 Nov. 2025
-
But the movie only gives tiny little tastes of 1982 rock culture, and why Nebraska was so comically unsuitable for airplay.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
There’s something moaning in the background.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
10 Oct. 2025
-
The deputies ultimately roll him over before putting on handcuffs as Mull can be heard moaning in pain.—
Nathaniel Percy,
Oc Register,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Niggling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggling. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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