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
My uncle who works in the oil field for the last 30 years will nitpick every little thing.
—
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2025
Gomez has been called out for her Spanish in the film, but that feels like nitpicking in a movie where absurdity often feels like the principle.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2025
Instead of nitpicking, lean into creating a seductive self-care routine: luxurious baths with candles, essential oils, and maybe a little solo exploration under the sheets to remind yourself of your natural fire.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, refinery29.com, 18 Dec. 2024
People are sick of the Biden administration’s excessive overreach, including the intention to hire 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service agents to nitpick every aspect of their lives.
—Carol Miller, National Review, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for nitpick
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 9 Jan. 2025
Gomez has been called out for her Spanish in the film, but that feels like nitpicking in a movie where absurdity often feels like the principle.
—Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2025
Instead of nitpicking, lean into creating a seductive self-care routine: luxurious baths with candles, essential oils, and maybe a little solo exploration under the sheets to remind yourself of your natural fire.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, refinery29.com, 18 Dec. 2024
People are sick of the Biden administration’s excessive overreach, including the intention to hire 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service agents to nitpick every aspect of their lives.
—Carol Miller, National Review, 16 Dec. 2024
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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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
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Even so, the film’s Very Online fandom didn’t seem fussed.—
Louis Staples,
Rolling Stone,
24 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 16 Apr. 2025.
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