Niggling (Adjective)

Meaning

(informal) small and of little importance; "a fiddling sum of money"; "a footling gesture"; "our worries are lilliputian compared with those of countries that are at war"; "a little (or small) matter"; "a dispute over niggling details"; "limited to petty enterprises"; "piffling efforts"; "giving a police officer a free meal may be against the law, but it seems to be a picayune infraction".

Classification

All adjective clusters.

Usages

• Colloquialism

Examples

• The team's niggling injuries were starting to take a toll on their performance.
• A niggling sense of doubt had been growing in her mind since she made the decision.
• The niggling problem with the car's engine had been causing trouble for months.
• The company's profits were being eaten away by niggling expenses and overheads.
• The politician's opponents were criticized for focusing on niggling details rather than the bigger picture.

Synonyms

• Footling
• Piddling
• Trivial
• Lilliputian
• Picayune
• Little
• Fiddling
• Piffling
• Petty