Synonyms for cavil


Grammar : Verb
Spell : kav-uhl
Phonetic Transcription : ˈkæv əl


Définition of cavil

Origin :
  • 1540s, from Middle French caviller "to mock, jest," from Latin cavillari "to jeer, mock; satirize, argue scoffingly" (also source of Italian cavillare, Spanish cavilar), from cavilla "jest, jeering," related to calumnia (see calumny).
  • verb quibble
Example sentences :
  • Dalton liked sympathy too well to cavil about his title to it.
  • Extract from : « The Daltons, Volume I (of II) » by Charles James Lever
  • I need not cavil at the phrases 'refinement' and 'gentleman.'
  • Extract from : « English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century » by Leslie Stephen
  • What good purpose then will it serve to cavil at the monks forever?
  • Extract from : « Bibliomania in the Middle Ages » by Frederick Somner Merryweather
  • Not now will we dispute and cavil; not now will we judge harshly of each other.
  • Extract from : « The Last Days of Pompeii » by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
  • This is Mythology, and here is, beyond all cavil, a late corruption of Religion.
  • Extract from : « Myth, Ritual, and Religion, Vol. 1 » by Andrew Lang
  • There is no hesitation, cavil, or debate in the acceptance of it as a duty.
  • Extract from : « The Contemporary Review, January 1883 » by Various
  • We confess there are points liable to cavil in a walk home by night in February.
  • Extract from : « Coaches and Coaching » by Leigh Hunt
  • Then the little stinging insects of the shed began to cavil and sneer.
  • Extract from : « Life in a Railway Factory » by Alfred Williams
  • Let no one cavil at our phraseology, when we say that the determination was most heroical.
  • Extract from : « Rank and Talent; A Novel, Vol. II (of 3) » by William Pitt Scargill
  • What right have you to cavil at Don Fernando's presence here?
  • Extract from : « Stoneheart » by Gustave Aimard

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019