variants
or cavilling
as in critical
given to making or expressing unfavorable judgments about things
a caviling theater critic who has yet to see a play she likes
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
or cavilling
as in complaining
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant
caviled for hours about a single sentence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for caviling
Adjective
-
Visiting the White Lotus’ Thailand hotel to learn new techniques and share her own, Belinda’s arc is less pitiable this season, but her purpose is arguably even more critical.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
11 Feb. 2025 -
The cultural conversation around parenting in later years is far more critical of women, yet often overlooks dads entirely.—
Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal,
Parents,
11 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
The irony of the quintessential real estate expert buying a home in the flight path of an international airport, then complaining about the noise, is not lost on the rest of Palm Beach County.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
8 Jan. 2025
-
That first-round pick became Merriman (although, the Giants aren't complaining).—
Ryan Morik,
Fox News,
8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
So much of the new sobriety flex is anathema to the captious alcoholics of 12-step groups.—
Virginia Heffernan,
Wired,
19 Apr. 2022
-
That a right-wing party traditionally captious about American patriotism did not react heatedly to evidence of Russian interference in US elections is bizarre.—
Darryl Pinckney,
The New York Review of Books,
5 Nov. 2020
Adjective
-
While Pansy’s hypercritical diatribes can be hilarious at times, the emotional pain that clearly underlies her behavior is heartbreaking.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
11 Jan. 2025
-
Especially as a woman online, a lot of people are so hypercritical of that sort of thing.—
Carly Thomas,
The Hollywood Reporter,
2 Oct. 2024
Adjective
-
Adding an onion, a few cloves of garlic, a spoonful of peppercorns, and a bay leaf won’t hurt, but be judicious with seasonings.—
Alexis deBoschnek,
Bon Appétit,
5 Feb. 2025
-
The answer: by gaining access to the Quintanilla family’s personal archives and forging judicious thematic threads with the material — much of which has never been made public before.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
27 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
The whining about everyone else didn’t help, either.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
31 Dec. 2024
-
Stop whining and thank your lucky stars for having a job.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
27 Dec. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Thesaurus Entries Near caviling
Cite this Entry
“Caviling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caviling. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share