- present participle of cavil.
caviling
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So what was I caviling about to myself during intermission?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
Someone better warn these caviling critics about Hamlet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2021
It would come off as cheeky caviling to basically say, “I don’t like the way you defended me and my property from a criminal.”
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2016
It was hard to fault Woods’s performance, even after all the caviling about timing his announcement in the middle of a golf tournament and the ban on reporters’ questions.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2010
"Ah!" says DIVINITY, "so mine, with quibbling and with caviling, Would have you, ma'am, to blind yourself, to see the road to travel in."
From The Humorous Poetry of the English Language; from Chaucer to Saxe by Parton, James