as in to complain
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in quibble
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in qualm
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of niggle
Randy Myers, Mercury News, 18 Sep. 2025
There’s been a series of niggling frustrations in my life the last few weeks.
—Wayne Chan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 June 2025
New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2025
Some of the tweaks to personnel have been born out of necessity, through suspensions (Nicolas Jackson, Moises Caicedo, Levi Colwill and Liam Delap) or injury niggles (e.g. Romeo Lavia and Reece James).
—Mark Carey, New York Times, 11 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for niggle
Verb
But there remains a niggling problem: There’s too much of a good thing here.
—Noun
Cambridge Audio appears to have taken minor niggles from its user community to heart and this update is the result.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for niggle
Verb
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Later, the state spent $6 million to seal the brick building, after state workers complained of respiratory ailments and asthma.—
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Although older drivers are certainly more sensitive to nocturnal blasts of light, drivers in their 20s and 30s also complained about the overall brightness of some vehicles.—
Noun
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The only quibble is the show primarily runs on weekends only.—
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Neither Israelis nor Palestinians can be satisfied by the reduction of their historical and religious claims to technical quibbles over borders and diplomatic recognition.—
Noun
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But if Venezuela, after inevitable turmoil in the near term, thrives, perhaps even helping to spread regional prosperity and security, those qualms won’t matter.—
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As for the stigma that may come with having used a weight-loss drug, Gaffigan has no qualms about it.—
Verb
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Need to put a filling dinner on the table, but don't have a lot of time to fuss?—
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Dunst doesn’t get fussed about that sort of thing.—
Noun
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At a City Hall news conference, the mayor responded to a question about retroactive changes to the 2026 budget, which aldermen passed over his objections last month, by reiterating the package could force personnel cuts.—
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During the certification process, members of Congress have the opportunity to object to a state’s results, which triggers debate and then a vote about whether the objection is to be upheld.—
Noun
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Weak to light shaking has been recorded and residents reported experiencing the tremor in a couple of cities, including Danville and San Ramon, according to the USGS DYFI report.—
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The tremor was about five miles from Coalcoman de Vazquez Pallares, a municipality of around 20,000 people, about 372 miles west of Mexico City.—
Verb
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Try not to nitpick yourself or others… peace beats perfection.—
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Meanwhile, nitpicking from Stewart is always welcome.—
Noun
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Bellarmine played a significant amount of zone defense, especially in the first half -- partially due to its limited roster but also as a challenge to UCA, who prefers to take three-point shots.—
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The moves comes at a time when DCS has already been facing staffing challenges.—
Cite this Entry
“Niggle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggle. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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