as in to complain
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in quibble
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of cavil
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2021
However, the actual interiors of this four-bedroom home are nothing to cavil at.
—Kelly Corbett, House Beautiful, 7 Oct. 2020
Verb
Naysayers often cavil that California’s economic growth depends almost entirely on Silicon Valley and the capital gains income of its wealthiest residents, but its primacy in high technology encompasses fields outside Northern California, such as biotech.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2021
However, the actual interiors of this four-bedroom home are nothing to cavil at.
—Kelly Corbett, House Beautiful, 7 Oct. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cavil
Verb
-
While many people who renounced their citizenship complained of being unhappy with the political climate in the US, another reason for their decision is often taxes, Alistair Bambridge, a partner at Bambridge Accountants, told CNN in August 2020.—
Edward Szekeres,
CNN,
5 Mar. 2025
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Trump and Vice President JD Vance clashed dramatically with the Ukrainian leader in the Oval Office Friday after Zelenskyy complained about Russian President Vladimir Putin.—
Riley Beggin,
USA TODAY,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The report found the company to be exceptional, with quibbles so minor that explaining them here would require a crash course in the dense lexicon of climate reporting.—
Justin Worland,
TIME,
25 Feb. 2025
-
For Minnelli true believers such quibbles may not matter.—
Manohla Dargis,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2025
Verb
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For one, both experts say that being too rigid can also lead to self-sabotaging behaviors, like rejecting otherwise great matches for superficial reasons or coming up with excuses to nitpick things that never mattered before.—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
14 Feb. 2025
-
Plus, getting to know each other tends to take priority over nitpicking the small stuff during the whirlwind honeymoon phase.—
Jenna Ryu,
SELF,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Sridhar Ramaswamy has a war cabinet of workers and frequently gets into quarrels with staffers over AI ambition.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
24 Feb. 2025
-
He’s been the attorney general for the state the last eight years, regularly an ally of litigation-ready Gov. Roy Cooper in quarrels with the Legislature.—
Alan Wooten | The Center Square,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
12 Jan. 2025
Verb
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On top of this, her mother and sister are fussing about her future relationship status, which leads to them plotting some dates for her.—
Tommy Tuberville,
Newsweek,
7 Mar. 2025
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The world saw this five-man group as an ideal of friendship, a community working and living together, fussing and fighting but making rough beauty out of it.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
21 Jan. 2025
Noun
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There’s little doubt that Ohtani will be back in the 2026 WBC with the Japanese team that is ranked first in the world.—
Barry M. Bloom,
Sportico.com,
7 Mar. 2025
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There's little doubt that AI will play an increasingly more prominent role in employee engagement, well-being and development.—
Kevin Korte,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
Verb
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And all that online chatter, all those detractors who keep moaning about the Chiefs playing in the biggest games of the year every year?—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN,
8 Feb. 2025
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Men writhe and moan in the shadows just out of sight as a young gay man walks through the dark room at Adonis, Copenhagen’s only gay sauna.—
David Opie,
IndieWire,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The incident comes roughly three months after workplace dispute led to a shooting at a Texas USPS distribution facility that left one worker dead.—
David Matthews,
New York Daily News,
5 Mar. 2025
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The dispute about the FEMA funds comes as the Trump administration is considering reshaping or abolishing FEMA.—
Peter Charalambous,
ABC News,
5 Mar. 2025
Articles Related to cavil
Cite this Entry
“Cavil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cavil. Accessed 15 Mar. 2025.
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