niggly
Adjective

niggly

  1. bad-tempered, especially about trivial details.
  2. trivial, insignificant
    • 2003, Michael Morpurgo - Kensuke's Kingdom [http://books.google.com/books?id=bqyGBOJejNoC&pg=PA5&dq=niggly&lr=&sig=Xs2OLG9djxgVX8bFv2ee8ESUgxw#PPP15,M1 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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