caviler

cav·il

C c

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [kav-uh l]
- /ˈkæv əl/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [kav-uh l]
- /ˈkæv əl/

Definitions of caviler word

noun caviler a person who cavils 3
verb without object caviler to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually followed by at or about): He finds something to cavil at in everything I say. 1
verb with object caviler to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections: to cavil each item of a proposed agenda. 1
noun caviler a trivial and annoying objection. 1
noun caviler the raising of such objections. 1
noun caviler A person who cavils; a faultfinder, quibbler or nitpicker. 1

See all 6 definitions of caviler

Information block about the term

Origin of caviler

First appearance:

before 1540

One of the 30% oldest English words

1540-50; < Latin cavillārī to jeer, scoff, quibble, verbal derivative of cavilla jesting, banter

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Caviler

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Caviler

caviler popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 77% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

According to our data about 54% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

caviler usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for caviler

noun caviler

nitpicker — a person who nitpicks, especially habitually.
quibbler — an instance of the use of ambiguous, prevaricating, or irrelevant language or arguments to evade a point at issue.
complainer — A complainer is someone who complains a lot about their problems or about things they do not like.
niggler — to criticize, especially constantly or repeatedly, in a peevish or petty way; carp: to niggle about the fine points of interpretation; preferring to niggle rather than take steps to correct a situation.
carper — to find fault or complain querulously or unreasonably; be niggling in criticizing; cavil: to carp at minor errors.

All 10 Synonyms of caviler