Word · Frequency #19300
niggling
琐碎的；微不足道的
petty; trivial
- 1.
Petty
琐碎的
- 2.
Irritating.
令人恼火的
烦人的；令人恼火的；琐碎的；令人恼火的；细小的；琐屑的
In use
She couldn't shake a niggling doubt that she had left the stove on.
He felt a niggling pain in his knee every time he climbed the stairs.
The office was full of niggling complaints about the new coffee machine.
niggling [noun]
作定语时，常修饰 doubt、feeling、worry 等表示轻微却持续扰人的事物。
She felt a niggling doubt about the plan.
她对那个计划感到一丝令人不安的疑虑。
be niggling
作表语时，主语通常是令人不快的事物或情况。
The constant noise is niggling.
持续的噪音让人恼火。
find [noun] niggling
find 接宾语再接 niggling，表示主观上觉得某事物令人恼火。
I find the paperwork niggling.
我觉得这些文书工作很烦人。
Common mistakes
The difference in price is niggling, so we can ignore it.The difference in price is negligible, so we can ignore it.
niggling 意为“琐碎且令人恼火的”，隐含让人烦扰；若想说“小到可忽略、不重要”，要用 negligible。两个词的侧重点不同，不能互换。
His niggling mother always criticizes him.His nagging mother always criticizes him.
niggling 形容细节、疑虑等“琐碎烦人”，不用于人；表示“唠叨的”要用 nagging。nagging mother 是固定搭配，指唠唠叨叨的母亲。
My landlord is niggling; he refuses to fix the heating.My landlord is niggardly; he refuses to fix the heating.
niggling 没有“吝啬”的意思；表示“小气、吝啬”的形容词是 niggardly。二者形近但词义不同。
Connections
Collocations
- a niggling doubt
- 挥之不去的疑虑
- She had a niggling doubt that she had left the door unlocked.她隐隐约约地担心自己没锁门。
- niggling pain
- 隐隐作痛
- He felt a niggling pain in his shoulder all day.他一整天都感到肩膀隐隐作痛。
- niggling details
- 琐碎的细节
- Don't get bogged down in niggling details.别陷在琐碎的细节里。
- niggling worry
- 令人烦恼的担忧
- There was a niggling worry that the plan might fail.心里有一种挥之不去的担忧，担心计划会失败。
- niggling feeling
- 隐隐不安的感觉
- I have a niggling feeling that something is wrong.我隐隐觉得有什么地方不对劲。
Synonyms
Learner notes
Memory Tip
niggling 里藏着 nag（唠叨），琐碎的唠叨令人恼火。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：日常对话、一般书面语 niggling 多用于日常口语和一般书面语，指细小但让人在意或烦恼的事情；在正式学术写作中较少见。
Pronunciation & Spelling
与 niggling /ˈnɪɡlɪŋ/ 押韵的词包括 giggling、wriggling、squiggling（都读 /ɪɡlɪŋ/）。smuggling 和 struggling 虽拼写也以 -ggling 结尾，但元音为 /ʌ/，并不押韵。fiddling 的拼写近似，但重读元音后的辅音是 /d/，也不押韵。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.