1
as in complains
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant
he spent the entire evening quibbling about the historical inaccuracies in the television series on World War II
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in argues
to express different opinions about something often angrily
don't quibble over who gets to sit in front
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quibbles
Verb
-
Every once in a while, a customer complains about the lascivious photos in the loo, but The Charles’ owners brush it off.—
Sarah Blaskovich,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Feb. 2026 -
More funds would continue to be diverted to maintaining borrowing—something Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio often complains about.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Conspiracy theories, especially on the right, have swirled for years around the Clintons and their connections to Epstein and Maxwell, who argues she was wrongfully convicted.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
27 Feb. 2026
-
OpenAI argues that leadership will depend on scaling infrastructure quickly and converting that capacity into products people depend on daily.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
San Diego softened its historic preservation rules Tuesday in order to accelerate homebuilding, despite objections from leading local historians and many Ocean Beach residents worried about community character.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 Feb. 2026
-
The European Union failed to pass new sanctions on Russia on Monday after surprise objections from Hungary, the bloc's top diplomat said.—
SAM McNEIL,
Arkansas Online,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
So your first indication of problems can be a client who nitpicks every job, forcing you to return to re-trim the 2-inch patch of sod that the client claims wasn’t properly manicured.—
Kathy Kristof,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Jan. 2026
-
But Brian constantly nitpicks her purchases.—
Kamaron McNair,
CNBC,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
The pope, played by Samora la Perdida, is a mincing oaf who bickers with Galas about the value of translating Wagner.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
This MaRV-style design challenges interceptors without requiring full hypersonic glide technology.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Cricket and basketball players are facing challenges, too, along with thousands of foreign tourists, while F1 personnel are seeking alternative travel to avoid the region on their way to this week's Australian Grand Prix.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The three bills also are not the first headline-grabbing action from Schroer, who serves as chair of the Senate’s hard-right Freedom Caucus, which frequently quarrels with GOP leadership.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The protests quickly evolved into a nationwide uprising led largely by women and young people.—
Abbas Al Lawati,
CNN Money,
1 Mar. 2026
-
The most recent round of protests was notable for prominently featuring direct appeals to the crown prince from large crowds.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
28 Feb. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Quibbles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quibbles. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
