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
"There was something niggling in the back of my mind, I just knew something was off."
From BBC • Aug. 12, 2024
Ten Hag is also responsible for making Bruno Fernandes United's captain, with his main contribution here being constant complaining and niggling that eventually led to an inevitable yellow card.
From BBC • Oct. 29, 2023
They were younger, coarser men who enforced every niggling regulation, whose job was to harass and demoralize us.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
