kritteln

Meaning

to quibble, cavil, nitpick

Concepts

quibble

cavil

find fault

Synonyms

nörgeln

herumkritteln

herumkritisieren

meckern

pöbeln

nörgeln, kritteln

schikanieren

Translations

criticar

ergoter

chicaneren

épiloguer

criticar

chicanar

sofismar

bahane aramak

μεμψιμοιρώ

kusur bulmak

μικρολογώ

chicane

Dialects

Basel-Landschaft

gryttele

Basel-Landschaft

grytle

Basel-Landschaft

näggele

Basel-Landschaft

niggele

Data provided by: Deutsch-Schweizerdeutsches Wörterbuch

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkrɪtəln/

Etymology

Cognate with Dutch: greten

Cognate with Middle High German: graz

In summary

From gritteln (“to irritate, bicker, rebuke, nitpick”, 17th c.), which is plausibly an iterative form of Middle Low German gretten (“to anger, irritate”). Compare Dutch greten (“to irritate, mock, laugh at”). These are cognate with Middle High German graz (“rage”). Variants with k- occur also in Dutch and Low German. They were reinforced, however, through influence of Kritik (“criticism”), kritisieren (“to criticise”), with which the German verb is generally associated.