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
-
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
-
The anti-Amendment 4 website hosted by the Agency for Health Care Administration led to court challenges from people who argued the state was improperly using its official power, including one case in front of the Florida Supreme Court.—
Ana Ceballos,
Miami Herald,
14 Apr. 2025
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Few would argue that the tire wear shown last spring and again on Saturday was within reason.—
Jordan Bianchi,
New York Times,
14 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
-
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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Sorrell also said bickering by leadership is affecting the community.—
Samantha Moilanen,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Mar. 2025
-
Pratt, whose character plays like a cross between Han Solo and Jack Burton, is gifted with a moment or two, bickering with Herman like a married couple and yeeting cars at Sentre headquarters.—
Courtney Howard,
Variety,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
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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
-
As the war lurched into its fourth year, Russian losses of tanks, fighting vehicles and other heavy equipment had exceeded 20,000, according to the analysts at the Oryx intelligence collective, which confirms each loss with imagery from the front line.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Apr. 2025
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The court fight over Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is a most unusual one in that no one denies that the government violated the law in deporting him.—
The Editors,
National Review,
14 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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More aggressive immigration enforcement actions took place last month, mainly at Ivy League and elite campuses in the Northeast, including Columbia University, where foreign students who supported pro-Palestinian protests were arrested for deportation.—
Jaweed Kaleem,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Quibble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/quibble. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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