variants
or cavilling
as in critical
given to making or expressing unfavorable judgments about things
a caviling theater critic who has yet to see a play she likes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
or cavilling
as in complaining
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant
caviled for hours about a single sentence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for caviling
Adjective
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This trend accelerated in December as the flag state emerged as a critical shield against drone strikes and vessel seizures.—
Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 7 Jan. 2026
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The musical movies have received critical acclaim, and the second film earned five total nominations at this year's Globes — one more than the 2025 Golden Globes.—
Verb
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But the same town also was sued in November by Stillson LLC, a company complaining because zoners approved an 8-30g project.—
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From bartenders in Virginia-Highland to servers in Alpharetta, several employees of food and drink businesses reported customers complaining about water that tastes like mildew.—
Adjective
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So much of the new sobriety flex is anathema to the captious alcoholics of 12-step groups.—
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That a right-wing party traditionally captious about American patriotism did not react heatedly to evidence of Russian interference in US elections is bizarre.—
Verb
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Should the pattern hold true throughout the long march to the Super Bowl, nobody’s going to be carping about the official headcount.—
Adjective
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My hypercritical brain took this imperfection and ran with it.—
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This has led to multiple fans getting hypercritical of the iconic wrestler, calling out his age and accusing him of simply being a product of former WCW president Eric Bischoff.—
Verb
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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.—
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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.—
Verb
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As the migrants boarded, a man hoisted one of the passengers in the air, a fussing 8-month-old baby whose face was flushed red from the heat.—
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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.—
Verb
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While lying on the pavement, he could be heard moaning as an officer shouted at him not to move.—
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There’s something moaning in the background.—
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Cite this Entry
“Caviling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caviling. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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