cavil

[ kav-uhl ]
See synonyms for: cavilcavilingcavillingcaviler on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object),cav·iled, cav·il·ing or (especially British) cav·illed, cav·il·ling.
  1. 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.

verb (used with object),cav·iled, cav·il·ing or (especially British) cav·illed, cav·il·ling.
  1. to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections: to cavil each item of a proposed agenda.

noun
  1. a trivial and annoying objection.

  2. the raising of such objections.

Origin of cavil

1
First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin cavillārī “to jeer, scoff, quibble,” derivative of cavilla “jesting, banter,” perhaps derivative of cav(us) “hollow”; see cave

Other words for cavil

Other words from cavil

  • cav·il·er; especially British, cav·il·ler, noun
  • cav·il·ing·ly; especially British, cav·il·ling·ly, adverb
  • outcavil, verb (used with object), out·cav·iled, out·cav·il·ing or (especially British) out·cav·illed, out·cav·il·ling.
  • un·cav·il·ing, adjective
  • un·cav·il·ling, adjective

Words Nearby cavil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cavil in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cavil

cavil

/ (ˈkævɪl) /


verb-ils, -illing or -illed or US -ils, -iling or -iled
  1. (intr; foll by at or about) to raise annoying petty objections; quibble; carp

noun
  1. a captious trifling objection

Origin of cavil

1
C16: from Old French caviller, from Latin cavillārī to jeer, from cavilla raillery

Derived forms of cavil

  • caviller, noun
  • cavilling, adjective

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