Make Your Point: NIGGLE

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pronounce NIGGLE:

"NIGG ull."

It rhymes with "giggle."

connect this word to others:

If you watched Breaking Bad, it may have niggled you when the pizza got tossed onto the roof like a Frisbee. How was that supposed to work? Aren't pizzas delivered sliced? It's a niggling little detail.

(Source)

Niggling thoughts and feelings, or niggling points or details, are the small, petty, fussy, annoying kind.

In other words, they're trivial, finicky, frivolous, fast___ous, or per___ckety.

Can you recall those last two synonyms? They both mean "extremely picky and careful about details."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

We're not sure where the word "niggle" came from, possibly a Scandinavian language. We do know it's been around in English since the late 1500s.

When something niggles you, or niggles at you, it bothers you again and again, making you fuss and worry over it.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, often the intransitive kind: "The thought niggles at me;" "The thought still niggles."

Sometimes the transitive kind: "The thought niggled me."

And on occasion, a noun, the countable kind, meaning "small, fussy, bothersome little details:" "As roommates, they've learned to resolve all their little niggles."

Other forms:

The other verb forms are "niggled" and "niggling."

"Niggling" is especially useful as an adjective: "these niggling thoughts;" "those niggling details."

how to use it:

"Niggle" is a semi-common word with a slangy tone.

It isn't exactly onomatopoetic, not like "bash" or "sizzle" or "whomp." But I'd argue that its sound does express the meaning. When you complain that certain thoughts or worries are niggling at you, you can almost hear their annoying little movements in the word. Niggling. Ugh.

And that's how we most often use this word: to talk about small things, often thoughts, fears, or worries, that are niggling. Or that niggle you, or niggle at you.

examples:

"It was the tiny flaw that niggled and drew the eye... Nina came on stage in a long silk gown, which hadn't been fully done up at the back, an oversight I found I couldn't take my eyes off."
  — Natasha Tripney, The Guardian, 13 April 2010

"Producers may believe people won't like genre pictures that focus on Jewish culture... I don't know this for sure, but it is a niggling suspicion I've harbored for some time."
  — Matthew Rozsa, Salon, 25 February 2021

has this page helped you understand "niggle"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "niggle" without saying "bother" or "pester."

try it out:

Talk about something that was recently niggling at you.

It may have been a song replaying in your head when you were trying to fall asleep, or a craving for Taco Bell when you were trying to eat healthy, or a plot hole in a movie that completely distracted you from the story, or a sense that you forgot to do something important but couldn't remember what it was.

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "That's A New One!"

I'll define and describe an amusing term that Dictionary.com has recently embraced. See if you can come up with it, and if you need more hints, you can reveal them by highlighting the black bits. To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

Try this one today:

According to Dictionary.com, it's "an often highly publicized event or situation that is said to have less impact or significance than expected."

It entered English around the year 1950. (I'm surprised it goes back that far. It sounds very modern and slangy to me.)

It's one word.

It's a compound word.

It's modeled after similar compound words.

It starts with the letter... N.

Its number of syllables is...four.

Its first three letters are... NOT.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of NIGGLE is

A. SOOTHE.
B. OVERPAY.
C. HOLD STILL.

2. In the novel Never Let Me Go, it "niggles" Kathy when _____.

A. both of her best friends die
B. she gets to buy clothes and toys at a school sale
C. her boyfriend says she won't ever understand how he feels

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
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  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
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From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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