as in to complain
to make often peevish criticisms or objections about matters that are minor, unimportant, or irrelevant
her husband nitpicks about everything: from how she puts the plates away to how she files the bills
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Recent Examples of nitpick
Similarly, viewers nitpicked an image Siragusa shared of her door frame, which was purportedly shot open.
—
Patricia Hernandez, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2025
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
While long-time fans found reasons to nitpick, newcomers could be forgiven for confusion.
—Andy McCullough, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nitpick
Patricia Hernandez, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2025
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
While long-time fans found reasons to nitpick, newcomers could be forgiven for confusion.
—Andy McCullough, The Athletic, 20 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nitpick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nitpick
Verb
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Pundits complained last year’s Cannes was a light affair, but that had to do with the bottleneck created by the strikes, for one.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2025
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The new plan arrives after many existing Claude subscribers complained of hitting rate limits frequently.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Some quibble with Sasaki being considered a prospect after playing four seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and think Anthony is the game’s best true prospect.—
John Perrotto,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
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The teams of Wikler, Martin and O’Malley have quibbled over other each other’s number of endorsements, particularly Martin’s endorsements.—
Caroline Vakil,
The Hill,
1 Feb. 2025
Verb
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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
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However, the actual interiors of this four-bedroom home are nothing to cavil at.—
Kelly Corbett,
House Beautiful,
7 Oct. 2020
Verb
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No crying or fussing or squirming.—
Danielle Pergament,
SELF,
10 Apr. 2025
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Really good, and if you’re not fussed about mod cons or hybrid tech, one can be sat on your driveway for just £18,850 ($24,388).—
Matthew MacConnell,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Ramirez said the detectives had found belongings near the storm drain entrance and heard what sounded like a woman moaning from inside the storm drain.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Apr. 2025
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Others had their heads and arms bandaged and were lined up on stretchers, moaning.—
Sui-Lee Wee,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nitpick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nitpick. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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