cavil
Example Sentences
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They talk a lot about how something must be done about inequality and the need to address social unrest, but cavil at the idea they might be a big part of the problem.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 1, 2019
I wished the corn had been grilled rather than boiled, but that’s a cavil since I consumed two of three ears.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2018
It is a risky business turning a near-perfect thing into a somewhat less-perfect thing, but it feels churlish to cavil about so much hard work done in a celebratory spirit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 18, 2017
There is much to cavil about along these lines.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2016
The committee awarded Livingston his doctorate without cavil.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Among its cavils are that the AI-produced images have flaws that would have been caught by human animators, and also that Coke hasn’t accommodated “its customers’ aversion to AI.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
For all the cavils about cookie-cutter proposals, there was a refreshing diversity in the social-media pitches of the candidates.
From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2022
Don’t be put off by these cavils, though.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2018
Yet despite numerous cavils, “The Aeneid” still fuels modern imaginations.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 12, 2017
It might be possible to add some cavils, but for the irresistible plea just glanced at, which stops one.
From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 by George Saintsbury
Prospective investors had caviled at “the benevolence of Starbucks management”, he said, which gave all employees health insurance and stock options; they wanted the money spent on investor returns.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 30, 2017
Critics caviled in this case because cub reporters do not write editorials under their signatures on the front pages.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meanwhile, the FCC caviled about the frequencies he wanted to use.
From Time Magazine Archive
Indeed, some U.S. policymakers caviled at Thant's plan.
From Time Magazine Archive
At the white cashmere robe alone he caviled.
From The Baronet's Bride by May Agnes Fleming
This lack of a central authority is one of the reasons why Dimon cavilled in such strong terms last week.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2017
Critics cavilled, questioned the veracity of many incidents, doubted this man had experienced them all.
From Time Magazine Archive
Critics cavilled slightly at his tendency to inject cosmic significance into his characters' activities.
From Time Magazine Archive
Is it not enough for thee to have cavilled at the first page of the Old Testament on "scientific" grounds?
From Inspiration and Interpretation Seven Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford by John William Burgon
Curiously, she cavilled at his choice of words.
From Afterwards by Kathlyn Rhodes
So what was I caviling about to myself during intermission?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
What artist would want to tap into the flow of my caviling thoughts in the middle of a performance?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
“Why do you wear that stuff?” she was asked, a question that has passed between many a caviling mother and obdurate teenage daughter.
From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2016
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
Why should they in caviling lose their labor?
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. VIII by Various
One reading of “The Shroud of Color” should be enough to convince the most cavilling reader.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
In the last month, the drip of doubtful decisions and cavilling explanations has become relentless.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2018
But it's Guineas weekend, a good time to celebrate the summer game rather than cavilling.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 30, 2010
Whereupon police, who had been listening, courteously hustled cavilling Major Franco and his huddle to jail for overnight detention.
From Time Magazine Archive
None, that is, worthy of anything but cavilling mention.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
Vocabulary lists containing cavil
Walden
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 11
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