Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to quibble
Participle: quibbled
Gerund: quibbling
Indicative
Present
| I | quibble |
| you | quibble |
| he;she;it | quibbles |
| we | quibble |
| you | quibble |
| they | quibble |
Perfect
| I | have quibbled |
| you | have quibbled |
| he;she;it | has quibbled |
| we | have quibbled |
| you | have quibbled |
| they | have quibbled |
Past
| I | quibbled |
| you | quibbled |
| he;she;it | quibbled |
| we | quibbled |
| you | quibbled |
| they | quibbled |
Pluperfect
| I | had quibbled |
| you | had quibbled |
| he;she;it | had quibbled |
| we | had quibbled |
| you | had quibbled |
| they | had quibbled |
Future
| I | will quibble |
| you | will quibble |
| he;she;it | will quibble |
| we | will quibble |
| you | will quibble |
| they | will quibble |
Future Perfect
| I | will have quibbled |
| you | will have quibbled |
| he;she;it | will have quibbled |
| we | will have quibbled |
| you | will have quibbled |
| they | will have quibbled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | quibble |
| you | quibble |
| he;she;it | quibble |
| we | quibble |
| you | quibble |
| they | quibble |
Perfect
| I | have quibbled |
| you | have quibbled |
| he;she;it | have quibbled |
| we | have quibbled |
| you | have quibbled |
| they | have quibbled |
Imperfect
| I | quibbled |
| you | quibbled |
| he;she;it | quibbled |
| we | quibbled |
| you | quibbled |
| they | quibbled |
Pluperfect
| I | had quibbled |
| you | had quibbled |
| he;she;it | had quibbled |
| we | had quibbled |
| you | had quibbled |
| they | had quibbled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would quibble |
| you | would quibble |
| he;she;it | would quibble |
| we | would quibble |
| you | would quibble |
| they | would quibble |
Perfect
| I | would have quibbled |
| you | would have quibbled |
| he;she;it | would have quibbled |
| we | would have quibbled |
| you | would have quibbled |
| they | would have quibbled |
Imperative
| you | quibble |
| we | Let's quibble |
| you | quibble |
Verbs conjugated like 'quibble'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'quibble'
bibble,
bubble,
cribble,
dibble,
dribble,
fribble,
kibble,
nibble,
nubble,
quiddle,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to take part in a minor fight or argument
- barney, pettifog, squabble
- evade
- cavil, dodge, equivocate, avoid, prevaricate, shuffle, trifle
- argue
- spar, altercate
Antonyms
- evade
- approach, face, confront, meet
- argue
- harmonize, overlook, ignore, propound
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
Origin uncertain. Possibly from quib (“quibble”, noun) + -le (diminutive ending). Quib is probably from Latin quibus (“in what respect? how?”), which appeared frequently in legal documents and came to be suggestive of the verbosity and petty argumentation found therein; or perhaps an alteration of quip. Alternatively, perhaps related to dialectal Dutch kwebbelen (“to speak quickly and continuously, chatter”). Compare also Scots wheebele (“a quibble”). See: Dutch '
kwebbelen'.
Sample Sentences
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They are constantly quibbling over insignificant details.
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“Oh, if you talk in that sense!” said Mr. Standish, with as much disgust at such non-legal quibbling as a man can well betray towards a valuable client. [1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter X, in Middlemarch […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book (please specify |book=I to VIII):]
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“I dog no one, Mr. Temple,” I replied bitterly. “We'll not quibble about words,” said he. [1904 May, Winston Churchill, chapter VI, in The Crossing, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, book II (Flotsam and Jetsam), page 314:]
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Mr. Musk has shown a disdain toward Twitter’s previous corporate culture. He has quibbled with the number of bird references in the company’s internal team names and products. [2023 July 24, Ryan Mac, Tiffany Hsu, “From Twitter to X: Elon Musk Begins Erasing an Iconic Internet Brand”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:]
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The customer quibbled the bill.