1
as in to complain
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to argue
to express different opinions about something often angrily
don't quibble over who gets to sit in front
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in objection
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of quibble
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman and Elon Musk seem to have lost their budding friendship of just a few months ago, as the two quibbled over X (formerly Twitter).
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025
Kelsey Piper, Vox, 28 Mar. 2025
My only quibble: unlike Part 1, Part 2 actually deviates quite substantially from the source material, particularly with regard to the fates of Constance and Milady.
—Ars Technica, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for quibble
Verb
The islanders can no more control whether the whales come or go than Ella can control her cancer or Mayor Annie can corral a group of quibbling, digressing neighbors into decisive action.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman and Elon Musk seem to have lost their budding friendship of just a few months ago, as the two quibbled over X (formerly Twitter).
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025
Noun
And at that point, why quibble over which exact rules got broken?
—Kelsey Piper, Vox, 28 Mar. 2025
My only quibble: unlike Part 1, Part 2 actually deviates quite substantially from the source material, particularly with regard to the fates of Constance and Milady.
—Ars Technica, 23 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for quibble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for quibble
Verb
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Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins complained to public broadcaster Radio New Zealand that the bill is only meant to grab attention.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
22 Apr. 2025
-
Preservationists are complaining that Tranquillity’s plan would harm the open views in that part of town.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
22 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Mills argued the clause blocks the lawsuit because the Federal Tort Claims Act directs federal judges to interpret the merits of this type of case based on state law.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2025
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South Korea’s Unification Ministry on Monday called on North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia immediately, arguing that the North’s support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poses a grave provocation to international security.—
Landon Mion,
FOXNews.com,
28 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Provide 7 realistic objections or reasons for apathy that typical customers might have.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
16 Apr. 2025
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There has never been an objection to describing this highly brutal, murderous conduct in words, nor did anyone object to this office when such crime scene images were recently shown on a Netflix documentary.—
Emily Shapiro,
ABC News,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Fans of the game have either enjoyed the series so far, nitpicked a number of differences between them, or both.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
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The Kremlin’s sincerity in seeking a ceasefire is increasingly suspect after weeks of negotiating, nitpicking, and reneging on U.S. proposals already approved by Ukraine.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Trump, who appointed Powell during his first term, has long bickered with the Fed chair over interest rates.—
John Towfighi,
CNN Money,
21 Apr. 2025
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Laurie stormed off and had a bummer of a night, hanging out with Valentin and his grifter Russian buddies at a Muay Thai fight — and ultimately fleeing half-dressed from one of their angry girlfriends — while Jaclyn and Kate stayed behind and bickered some more.—
Noel Murray,
New York Times,
6 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Williams never fussed about it, though and his relationships with many in the organization weren’t overly affected.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
14 Apr. 2025
-
No crying or fussing or squirming.—
Danielle Pergament,
SELF,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In the final season of the Emmy-winning drama series, June will fight to take down Gilead with Luke and Moira joining the resistance, per Hulu.—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2025
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No medication cures measles, only time and the hope that a child’s body can fight it.—
Dan Sweeney,
Sun Sentinel,
27 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Trump has particularly threatened universities over campus protests against U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza after a deadly October 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants.—
Kanishka Singh,
USA Today,
19 Apr. 2025
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In December, a Riverside Unified School District board meeting drew national attention and massive opposing protests outside the meeting.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quibble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quibble. Accessed 1 May. 2025.
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