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
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
Adjective
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for niggling
Adjective
-
Here, again, there were slight differences in the responses when broken down by party affiliation.—
Brendan Rascius,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 2025
-
Like the inclusion of the new music, the omission of the prince storyline shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying even the slightest attention to the controversies plaguing the production of Snow White for the past few years.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
The irony of the quintessential real estate expert buying a home in the flight path of an international airport, then complaining about the noise, is not lost on the rest of Palm Beach County.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
8 Jan. 2025
-
That first-round pick became Merriman (although, the Giants aren't complaining).—
Ryan Morik,
Fox News,
8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Here’s why: Although technical specifications are still being worked out, the new standard could deliver nominal peak data rates of more than 40Gbps.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
20 Mar. 2025
-
According to expert estimates, India needs to spend around $100 billion per year, or 2.8% of current nominal GDP, to achieve net-zero power sector emissions by 2070.—
Radhika Kak, independent researcher at Harvard Business School and Varad Pande, partner at BCG,
CNBC,
20 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
That sketch, coming just before the episode’s closing performance by Cypress Hill, was the hour’s peak, containing all the promise of petty obsessions afforded airtime in a chorus of besuited actors shouting a monologue as one.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
13 Mar. 2025
-
This isn’t to say the vigilante trans group in the new world is free of petty catfights.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Pollen Pollen is a powdery substance made of tiny grains that plants release to propagate.—
Nancy LeBrun,
Verywell Health,
17 Mar. 2025
-
Instead of worksheets and textbooks, children practice adding and subtracting with tiny toy bears.—
Cory Turner,
NPR,
17 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Niggling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/niggling. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.
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