nitpick
or nit-pick
[nit-pik]
- to be excessively concerned with or critical of inconsequential details.
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- to criticize by focusing on inconsequential details.
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- a carping, petty criticism.
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- of, relating to, or characteristic of a nitpicker or nitpicking.
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Origin of nitpick
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
pompousstiltedabstrusedemuredemandingpreciseonerousstringentharshimperiousstrictpainstakingrigorousrigidchoosysqueamishfastidiousscrupulousfussydiscriminatingExamples from the Web for nit-picking
Contemporary Examples
Instead, they have unleashed a storm of nit-picking and vilification.
Even after logging countless hours nit-picking her work, there is no one I'd rather spend time with.
nit-picking
- a concern with insignificant details, esp with the intention of finding fault
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- showing such a concern; fussy
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Word Origin
C20: from nit 1 + pick 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for nit-picking
nitpick
v.
"seek petty faults," also nit-pick, 1962, back-formation from earlier nitpicker. Related: Nitpicking; nitpicky.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper