niggly

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English

Etymology

From niggle +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

Adjective

niggly (comparative more niggly, superlative most niggly)

  1. Bad-tempered, especially about trivial details.
    • 2024 August 29, Alex Mills, “Larne headed for Conference League group stages as Andy Ryan hat-trick secures historic Play-Off joy”, in Belfast Telegraph‎:
      With so much at stake, both teams were hesitant and cagey early on, the game with littered with late tackles and niggly fouls.
  2. Trivial, insignificant
    • 2003, Michael Morpurgo, Kensuke's Kingdom‎, page 5:
      They'd argue a lot, about little niggly things — and they had never been like that.
    • 1994, Douglas R. Graves, Life Drawing in Charcoal‎, page 153:
      You soon discover there isn't time (nor is there any need) to put in the niggly details. The essence of the pose is its attitude or action and a hint of the model.
  3. Pernickety, paying too much attention to small details.
    • 2003, Michael Palin, Sahara, page 16:
      Now things are less confrontational but just as niggly. The Spanish examine drivers' papers with elaborate care, causing huge traffic jams
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