quibbling 1 of 3

adjective

Definition of quibblingnext
as in nitpicking

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Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

quibbling

2 of 3

noun

as in ambiguity

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

quibbling

3 of 3

verb

present participle of quibble
1
as in complaining
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant he spent the entire evening quibbling about the historical inaccuracies in the television series on World War II

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bickering
to express different opinions about something often angrily don't quibble over who gets to sit in front

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for quibbling
  1. ambiguity
  2. complaining
  3. bickering
  4. subtle
  5. arguing
  6. nuanced
Noun
  • The pleasure mostly derives from picking out the remaining ambiguities, especially related to the film’s flash-forward coda; the finale has already inspired a lot of heated social-media debate over its intention.
    David Sims, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Where American Primeval has at least allowed a sliver of ambiguity when portraying whether or not Young was complicit in the massacre’s cover-up until now, there’s none of that here.
    Keith Phipps, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2025
Definition of ambiguity
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
Definition of complaining
Verb
  • The sellers are Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul (Ray Romano), bickering empty nesters saddled with financial woes and a dark secret.
    Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2024
  • Right out of the gate, the brothers are in a contentious mood, needling each other with elbows and bickering like little siblings.
    Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 13 Oct. 2024
Definition of bickering
Adjective
  • Picture red tuna fish caught that morning cooked in a subtle mix of local spices and topped over fresh linguine or meatier cuts of fish served like steak with fresh vegetables plucked from nearby farms.
    Rooksana Hossenally, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
  • But planet-scale warming is probably affecting weather basically every day, even if the impacts are subtle.
    Alejandra Borunda, NPR, 13 Jan. 2025
Definition of subtle
Verb
  • Adnan often finds himself at the center of the theatrics — from arguing with Brian about ego to suggesting Veah is an untrustworthy partner after Sunny accused her of cheating.
    Abigail Adams, People.com, 6 Jan. 2025
  • Bowman’s lawyers asked the state Supreme Court to delay his execution to allow a hearing on his last-ditch appeal arguing that his trial lawyer was not prepared and had too much sympathy for the white victim and not his black client.
    Landon Mion, Fox News, 5 Jan. 2025
Definition of arguing
Adjective
  • Furthermore, the rising threat of hybrid warfare—where cyberattacks merge with propaganda and extremist activity—demands a nuanced strategy that ensures no gaps are left in the federal response.
    Emil Sayegh, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025
  • These advanced hardware configurations enable researchers to explore nuanced robotic learning methodologies.
    Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report, Fox News, 17 Jan. 2025
Definition of nuanced
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 quibbling

quibbles

quibbling

quick

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Cite this Entry

“Quibbling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quibbling. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

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More from Merriam-Webster on quibbling

Nglish: Translation of quibbling for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of quibbling for Arabic Speakers

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