DEFINITIONS
The
2019 WORD
OF THE YEAR is...

quibble

[ kwib-uhl ]
/ ˈkwɪb əl /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR quibble ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an instance of the use of ambiguous, prevaricating, or irrelevant language or arguments to evade a point at issue.
the general use of such arguments.
petty or carping criticism; a minor objection.

verb (used without object), quib·bled, quib·bling.

to equivocate.
to carp; cavil.

Content related to quibble

Why Does The Letter Q Almost Always Need The Letter U?Scrabble players are acutely aware that Q is a tricky letter. To use a Q in the game, a player must also find an available U. The fact that Q is the second most rarely used letter in the alphabet certainly doesn’t make using Q any easier.
READ MORE
Toadyism And Other Trending Words On Dictionary.comFrom lawsuits on the gridiron to scandal in the Oval Office and a jump over the pond into the land of K-pop, trending words were all over the map this week!
READ MORE

Words related to quibble

doubter, complainant, complainer, caviler, censor, carper, nitpicker, niggler, zapper, muckraker, disparager, maligner, slanderer, worrier, nagger, faultfinder, criticizer, aristarch, censurer, fretter

Words nearby quibble

quezon y molina, qui nhon, qui nhong, qui transtulit sustinet, qui vive, quibble, quibbling, quibdó, quiberon, quiche, quiche lorraine

Origin of quibble

1605–15; perhaps derivative (cf. -le) of quib gibe, apparently akin to quip

OTHER WORDS FROM quibble

quib·bler, nounout·quib·ble, verb (used with object), out·quib·bled, out·quib·bling.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for quibbler

  • If there is one thing I find it difficult to have Christian patience with, it is a quibbler.

    Hildegarde's Harvest|Laura E. Richards

  • You are a quibbler, I vow; but I would not hear your worst enemy accuse you of being orthodox.

    A Nest of Linnets|Frank Frankfort Moore

  • He was adroit and quick, and was rather a quibbler than a great lawyer.

    The Memories of Fifty Years|William H. Sparks

  • With him the quibbler, the doctrinaire, the political economist, has no place.

    Sir Charles Napier|Sir William Francis Butler

British Dictionary definitions for quibbler

quibble
/ (ˈkwɪbəl) /

verb (intr)

to make trivial objections; prevaricate
archaic to play on words; pun

noun

a trivial objection or equivocation, esp one used to avoid an issue
archaic a pun

Derived forms of quibble

quibbler, nounquibbling, adjective, nounquibblingly, adverb

Word Origin for quibble

C17: probably from obsolete quib, perhaps from Latin quibus (from quī who, which), as used in legal documents, with reference to their obscure phraseology
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