as in complaining
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant
her husband nitpicks about everything: from how she puts the plates away to how she files the bills
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in quibbling
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of nitpicking
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nitpicking
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
-
More support tickets, more quibbling, more negotiating.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
25 Aug. 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
Adjective
-
This planet is electric, unpredictable and genius with its approach, but its transits are anything but subtle.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
6 Sep. 2025
-
Even subtle light or noise can disrupt sleep cycles, preventing you from reaching the deeper, most restorative stages of sleep necessary for physical and mental recovery.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nitpicking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nitpicking. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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