quibble
/ˈkwɪbəl/
quibble noun: an argument or objection based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint.
Noun
quibble (plural quibbles)
- An argument or objection based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint.
- He harped on his quibble about how the dark red paint should be described as carmine rather than burgundy.
- Quibbles […]have no place in the search after truth.1741, I[saac] Watts, The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logick: […], London: […] James Brackstone, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- argument, argy-bargy, altercation, contention, barney, bawl out, blue, bobbery, brawl, clash
- A pun.
- Is it a quibble, or play upon words?1864, Robert Kemp Philp, editor, The Family Friend, page 54
- This is a quibble between council and counsel. The latter word is still used to imply secrecy; as in the phrase, "keep your own counsel."1870, Richard Grant White, The complete works of Shakspere, with a memoir, and essay
Verb
quibble (third-person singular simple present quibbles, present participle quibbling, simple past and past participle quibbled)
- To complain or argue in a trivial or petty manner.
- They are constantly quibbling over insignificant details.
- “Oh, if you talk in that sense!” said Mr. Standish, with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client.1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter X, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book (please specify |book=I to VIII)
- To contest, especially some trivial issue in a petty manner.
- The customer quibbled the bill.
quibble meaning in Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
quibble in Urdu
- بولی, فقرہ بازی, حیلہ, انحراف, جگت
quibble in Malayalam
- objection, criticism, complaint
- വിമർശനം, എതിർപ്പ്, പരാതി, കുറ്റാരോപണം, ആക്ഷേപം, പ്രതിഷേധം
- find fault with, object to, complain about
- വിമർശിക്കുക, എതിർപ്പുപ്രകടിപ്പിക്കുക, കുറ്റം കാണുക, കുറ്റം കണ്ടുപിടിക്കുക, വെറുതെ വിവാദിക്കുക, അപലപീക്കുക
quibble in Kannada
- ಮಾತು ಹೊರಳಿಸು, ಶ್ಲೇಷೆಯನ್ನು ಬಳಸು, ದ್ವಂದ್ವಾರ್ಥ ಬರುವಂತೆ ಮಾತನಾಡು, ಮಾತನ್ನು ಹೊರಳಿಸು, ಕುತರ್ಕವನ್ನು ಬಳಸು, ಸಂದಿಗ್ಧವಾಗಿ ಮಾತನಾಡು
Examples of quibble in a sentence
- Toward the end of “Galatea,” there are a few missteps: […] All in all, though, these are minor quibbles.1995 June 27, Michiko Kakutani, “Playing Pygmalion to a Hermeneutic Computer”, in New York Times:
- Essentially, we want a commitment to no-quibble refunds, without admin fees, if people who have already paid decide not to travel because of the virus.2020 March 25, “Network News: Passengers offered refunds or switched fares”, in Rail, page 7:
- “We'll not quibble about words,” said he.1904 May, Winston Churchill, chapter VI, in The Crossing, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, book...
- He has quibbled with the number of bird references in the company’s internal team names and products.2023 July 24, Ryan Mac, Tiffany Hsu, “From Twitter to X: Elon Musk Begins Erasing an Iconic Internet Brand”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Synonyms of quibble
29 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of quibble
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | quibbles |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | quibbles |
| present participle | quibbling |
| past participle | quibbled |
| past | quibbled |
Origin of quibble
Origin uncertain. Possibly from quib (“quibble”, noun) + -le (diminutive ending). Quib is probably from Latin quibus (“in what respect? how?”), which appeared frequently in legal documents and came to be suggestive of the verbosity and petty argumentation found therein; or perhaps an alteration of quip. Alternatively, perhaps related to dialectal Dutch kwebbelen (“to speak quickly and continuously, chatter”). Compare also Scots wheebele (“a quibble”).
Words formed from quibble
Words that rhyme with quibble
4 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about quibble
- What does quibble mean?
- Quibble means an argument or objection based on an ambiguity of wording or similar trivial circumstance; a minor complaint.
- What is quibble in Urdu?
- Quibble in Urdu is بولی, فقرہ بازی, حیلہ. See Quibble meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use quibble in a sentence?
- Toward the end of “Galatea,” there are a few missteps: […] All in all, though, these are minor quibbles.
- What part of speech is quibble?
- Quibble can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce quibble?
- Quibble is pronounced /ˈkwɪbəl/.
- What is the plural of quibble?
- The plural of quibble is quibbles.
Words near quibble in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: quibble (page history and authors); quibble (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); quibble (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); quibble (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-quibble.ogg.
Cite this entry: “quibble.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quibble. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.