niggling
Americanadjective
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petty; trivial; inconsequential.
to quibble about a niggling difference in terminology.
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demanding too much care, attention, time, etc..
niggling chores about the house.
adjective
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petty
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fussy
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irritating
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requiring painstaking work
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persistently troubling
a niggling back pain
noun
Other Word Forms
- nigglingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of niggling
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.
On a separate farewell podcast for paid subscribers, Maron and his longtime producer Brendan McDonald explained that the relentless workload was tiring and articulated a niggling feeling that the show belonged to a different era.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026
The prospect of cuts has helped push world markets ever higher this year, offsetting niggling worries about stretched valuations in the tech sector.
From Barron's • Dec. 29, 2025
Snoeijs is healthy now, aside from a few niggling hip injuries, and her heart is screened every few years.
From BBC • Oct. 9, 2025
Even though she had now met her father, Tamuna still had a niggling question: had she - like thousands of other Georgians - been stolen from her mother at birth and sold?
From BBC • Nov. 30, 2024
“It has enough depth,” she said, irritated, but with the niggling thought that he was right.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
