niggle

English

Etymology

First attested in 1599. Origin uncertain, but likely borrowed from dialectal Norwegian nigla (“to be stingy, to busy oneself with trifles”), ultimately from Old Norse hnøggr (“stingy; miserly”), related to Old English hnēaw (“stingy; niggardly”). More at niggard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɪɡəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪɡəl

Noun

niggle (plural niggles)

1. A minor complaint or problem.

   Synonyms: quibble, split hairs, cavil

   • 2012, Anna Kessel, “London 2012: Christian Taylor aims high as Phillips Idowu stays away”, in The Guardian:

     The Olympic medal contender's back problem has been described as a "niggle" by the head coach, Charles van Commenee, but Porter's friend and former team-mate Danielle Carruthers revealed that the injury is playing on the Briton's mind.

   • 2020 January 2, Richard Clinnick, “After some alarms, Sleeper awakens”, in Rail, page 47:

     He declared that it would take until the early New Year for all the faults and niggles to be ironed out, and that the rest of 2019 would be deemed to be a 'bedding in' period.

2. (obsolete) Small, cramped handwriting.

Verb

niggle (third-person singular simple present niggles, present participle niggling, simple past and past participle niggled)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To trifle with; to deceive; to mock.
   • c. 1621, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Pilgrim”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     I shall so feed your fierce vexation , And raise your worship ' s storms ; I shall so niggle you , And juggle you , and fiddle you , and firk you

2. (transitive) To use, spend, or do in a petty or trifling manner.
3. (intransitive) To dwell too much on minor points or on trifling details.

   Synonyms: nitpick, split hairs, cavil

4. (intransitive, chiefly UK) To fidget, fiddle, be restless.
5. (intransitive, UK, dialect, archaic) To walk with short steps.
   • 1893, Fores's Sporting Notes & Sketches, page 177:

     I can see him now with his one eye closed as he came niggling along, and didn't he just give me a grandfather's blessing!

Derived terms

• niggler
• niggly

Translations

to trifle, to deceive, to mock

to dwell too much on minor points

• Dutch: muggenziften (nl)
• Finnish: niuhottaa (fi)
• Hungarian: akadékoskodik (hu), kukacoskodik (hu), kötekedik (hu), szőröz (hu)

to fidget, to fiddle, to be restless

• Bulgarian: суетя се (suetja se)
• Dutch: peuteren (nl), frunniken (nl)
• Hungarian: izeg-mozog (hu), mocorog (hu), fészkelődik (hu)
• Russian: суети́ться (ru) n (sujetítʹsja)

Anagrams

• gingle, leggin, leging