cavil
Americanverb (used without object)
-
cavils,
present (3rd person singular)
-
caviled,
past participle, past
-
cavilled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
caviling,
present participle
-
cavilling
present participle (especially British)
verb (used with object)
-
cavils,
present (3rd person singular)
-
caviled,
past participle, past
-
cavilled,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
caviling,
present participle
-
cavilling
present participle (especially British)
noun
-
a trivial and annoying objection.
-
the raising of such objections.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
cavilernoun
-
cavillernoun
-
outcavilverb (used with object)
-
cavillingadjective
-
uncavilingadjective
-
uncavillingadjective
-
cavilinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
cavilsimple
-
cavilssimple
-
have caviledperfect
-
have cavilledperfect
-
has caviledperfect
-
has cavilledperfect
-
am cavilingprogressive
-
am cavillingprogressive
-
are cavilingprogressive
-
are cavillingprogressive
-
is cavilingprogressive
-
is cavillingprogressive
-
have been cavilingperfect progressive
-
have been cavillingperfect progressive
-
has been cavilingperfect progressive
-
has been cavillingperfect progressive
Past
-
caviledsimple
-
cavilledsimple
-
had caviledperfect
-
had cavilledperfect
-
was cavilingprogressive
-
was cavillingprogressive
-
were cavilingprogressive
-
were cavillingprogressive
-
had been cavilingperfect progressive
-
had been cavillingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cavil
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin cavillārī “to jeer, scoff, quibble,” derivative of cavilla “jesting, banter,” perhaps derivative of cav(us) “hollow”; see cave ( def. )
Explanation
If your only cavil to your family's trip to Disney World is that you don't like airline food, you're not representing the anti-Mickey side of the argument very well. A cavil is a small or petty objection. Cavil is not a word that comes up all that often. You can replace it with the more commonly used word quibble and still have the same meaning. If you cavil over a restaurant bill, you argue about the minute, unimportant details of who owes what — like whether your portion of the bill is $10.00 or $10.17.
Vocabulary lists containing cavil
Walden
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Tolkien Reading Day, List 11
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“The history demonstrates beyond cavil that the founding generation understood that ‘legislatures’ would operate as normal legislatures, not independent legislatures, with respect to both procedure and substance,” he writes.
From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2022
This cavil has no bearing on the outcome of the case.
From Slate ● Feb. 20, 2019
They talk a lot about how something must be done about inequality and the need to address social unrest, but cavil at the idea they might be a big part of the problem.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 1, 2019
I wished the corn had been grilled rather than boiled, but that’s a cavil since I consumed two of three ears.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2018
The committee awarded Livingston his doctorate without cavil.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
The basic arithmetic itself is subject to cavils resulting from the murkiness of some of the cost calculations and projections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
Inevitably, as in any operatic career, there were critical cavils.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2018
Still, setting aside any minor cavils, you will certainly enjoy “Presto and Zesto in Limboland” and, if it doesn’t seem too static or just plain weird, so will your children.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 4, 2018
Don’t be put off by these cavils, though.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2018
One might make a few cavils at this.
From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2 To the Close of the 19th Century by George Saintsbury
Prospective investors had caviled at “the benevolence of Starbucks management”, he said, which gave all employees health insurance and stock options; they wanted the money spent on investor returns.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 30, 2017
Meanwhile, the FCC caviled about the frequencies he wanted to use.
From Time Magazine Archive
No one has caviled that Hughes, who was too young for combat in World War I and too old for combat in World War II, should have chosen to write about both.
From Time Magazine Archive
Indeed, some U.S. policymakers caviled at Thant's plan.
From Time Magazine Archive
I beseech Thee by Thy Name, the Restrainer, to withhold from us the maleficence of Thine adversaries who have disbelieved in Thy testimony, and caviled at Thy beauty.
From Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh
This lack of a central authority is one of the reasons why Dimon cavilled in such strong terms last week.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2017
Critics cavilled, questioned the veracity of many incidents, doubted this man had experienced them all.
From Time Magazine Archive
Critics cavilled slightly at his tendency to inject cosmic significance into his characters' activities.
From Time Magazine Archive
The very associations which a more refined critic would have cavilled at had their attractions for him, and he gloried in the noise and uproar.
From The Daltons, Volume II (of II) Or,Three Roads In Life by Charles James Lever
There was all the defiance of a world insensate to love, greedy to find sin, dull to see grace and beauty, blind to a woman's self while it cavilled at a woman's deeds.
From Tristram of Blent An Episode in the Story of an Ancient House by Anthony Hope
What artist would want to tap into the flow of my caviling thoughts in the middle of a performance?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
Someone better warn these caviling critics about Hamlet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2021
It would come off as cheeky caviling to basically say, “I don’t like the way you defended me and my property from a criminal.”
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2016
Henrik Lundqvist: Early-season concern over a handful of spotty games and caviling over the occasional soft goal were, and continue to be, overreactions.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2011
Now cut this land up into little, caviling factions, and where are we?
From The Eye of Dread by Payne Erskine
One reading of “The Shroud of Color” should be enough to convince the most cavilling reader.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
In the last month, the drip of doubtful decisions and cavilling explanations has become relentless.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2018
But it's Guineas weekend, a good time to celebrate the summer game rather than cavilling.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 30, 2010
Whereupon police, who had been listening, courteously hustled cavilling Major Franco and his huddle to jail for overnight detention.
From Time Magazine Archive
None, that is, worthy of anything but cavilling mention.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
