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
-
In Canada, those minerals sit in the same rock formations where miners already dig for copper, nickel, and diamonds, or explore for critical green transition metals like lithium and cobalt.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
18 May 2026 -
Global energy demand is projected to rise more than 50% by 2040, driven by economic growth in Asia and power-hungry AI infrastructure — and LNG, which is a cleaner fuel than coal or oil, is seen as a critical source to help meet that demand.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
18 May 2026
Verb
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So, what Rodriguez and Cohen Higgins are complaining about is what happens four and five years or even ten years down the line.—
Jim DeFede,
CBS News,
17 May 2026
-
Follow these mowing etiquette tips to avoid being the one that your neighbors are complaining about on Reddit.—
Leanne Potts,
Better Homes & Gardens,
16 May 2026
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
Verb
-
Trump’s carping notwithstanding, economic growth spiked during Powell’s first year to 3 percent, the highest since the mid-2000s, and wages rose at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis.—
Roger Lowenstein,
The Atlantic,
16 Jan. 2026
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Should the pattern hold true throughout the long march to the Super Bowl, nobody’s going to be carping about the official headcount.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Emond, as Suzanna’s hypercritical mother, puts an Olympic-level spin on her withering observations.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
16 Apr. 2026
-
After learning the risks and dangers of the Colorado Rockies’ backcountry from a loving but complicated mother, Zach Fisher, a sensitive 12-year-old, joins Bram, his hypercritical father, on a father/son ski trip.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Joy Randolph and John Early, as the two Afterlife Coordinators, have a quibbling charisma, but the movie should have done more with all its possible versions of paradise, figuring out how to use them comedically instead of just as easy punchlines.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
10 Sep. 2025
-
When the murder of 100,000 people, many of them women and children, is mentioned or denounced, or when someone dares to use terms such as genocide, ethnocide, ethnic cleansing or similar, most people choose to take issue with the characterization, quibbling over semantics.—
Uriel Kon
September 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Ever the dedicated mother, Stacy runs to her adult daughter’s aid, fussing at her for not using a driver for her errands.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
13 Mar. 2026
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Your son is fussing in his car seat.—
Elizabeth Bruenig,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2026
Verb
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There are kerfuffles down at the hardware store, and a moaning moose makes his presence known near the motel where Ulysses is staying.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
17 Apr. 2026
-
But a male voice could be heard moaning in the background.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Caviling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/caviling. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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