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
Huw Jones is going through an individual routine with one of the Lions conditioners as the Scotland centre recovers from a niggling Achilles problem.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2025
"If somebody has some niggling concerns and it triggers them to ask somebody, 'Are you OK?' then that would be an amazing outcome."
From BBC • Sep. 26, 2024
The same niggling doubts I always had about not belonging.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
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.
