Word of the Day for Tuesday September 6, 2005 cavil \KAV-uhl\, intransitive verb: To raise trivial or frivolous objections; to find fault without good reason. transitive verb: To raise trivial objections to. noun: A trivial or frivolous objection. Insiders with their own strong views, after all, tend to cavil about competing ideas and stories they consider less than comprehensive. --Laurence I. Barrett, "Dog-Bites-Dog," [1]Time, October 30, 1989 It may seem churlish, amid the selection of so much glory, to cavil at a single omission, but I do think a great opportunity has been missed. --Tom Rosenthal, "Rome sweet Rome," [2]New Statesman, February 5, 2001 He was determined not to be diverted from his main pursuit by cavils or trifles. --William Safire, [3]Scandalmonger _________________________________________________________ Cavil comes from Latin cavillari, "to jeer, to quibble," from cavilla, "scoffing." Synonyms: quibble, carp, nitpick. [4]Find more at Thesaurus.com. References 1. http://www.time.com/ 2. http://www.newstatesman.com/ 3. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0156013231/ref=nosim/lexico 4. http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=cavil Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=cavil