释义 |
niggle /ˈnɪɡ(ə)l /verb [no object]1Cause slight but persistent annoyance, discomfort, or anxiety: Doreen wanted to discuss matters that niggled at her mind (as adjective niggling) niggling aches and pains...- It just niggled at me, and I thought I'd say something.
- So I made my way to our meeting ready to hammer them down, but my sense of fair play niggled at me.
- One thing that niggled at his mind was the bruises that covered her body.
Synonyms irritate, annoy, worry, trouble, bother, provoke, exasperate, upset, gall, irk, rankle with informal rile, get up someone's nose, hack off, get, get to, bug 1.1 [with object] Criticize or annoy (someone) in a petty way: people niggling me for doing too much workSynonyms complain, object, moan, fuss, nag, carp, cavil, find fault, grumble, grouse informal nitpick nounA trivial criticism, discomfort, or annoyance: it is an excellent book except for my few niggles he can only throw underarm at the moment because of a niggle...- It just made impatient about having to wait four weeks before being allowed to leave all my niggles and gripes behind.
- It may be something as simple as an annoying niggle, or frustration with his own efforts, but whatever it is, England need to resolve it soon if they are to win this series - and to have any chance of defeating the Australians in the summer.
- In the light of that, my little niggles and the odd feelings of unhappiness seem pretty trivial.
Synonyms minor criticism, quibble, trivial objection, trivial complaint, adverse comment, moan, grumble, grouse, cavil informal gripe, beef, grouch, nitpicking archaic pettifogging Derivativesnigglingly adverb ...- The crowd is not even daring to be expectant, bitten too many times by false hope, but there was a new energy about the Kingz last time on this field, so in the stands there is only a nigglingly small doubt that the team will lose.
- He still finds reading nigglingly annoying, and hates most television.
- It's a fine scene, but nigglingly off centre in a few important details.
niggly /ˈnɪɡli / adjective ...- We know that there are plenty of you out there with niggly little problems, whether it's boy/girlfriend trouble, moral quandaries, or just your everyday London questions.
- We had a couple of niggly little things wrong with the car, I came up against traffic on my fast laps and then the rain came.
- It got a bit silly and niggly at times as they tried to break us mentally and drag us down to their level.
OriginEarly 17th century (in the sense 'do in an ineffectual way'): apparently of Scandinavian origin; compare with Norwegian nigla. Current senses date from the late 18th century. Rhymesgiggle, higgle, jiggle, sniggle, squiggle, wiggle, wriggle |