Niggle vs Rankle - What's the difference?
niggle | rankle |
A minor complaint or problem.
* 2012 , The Guardian,
(obsolete) Small, cramped handwriting.
To trifle with; to deceive; to mock.
To dwell too much on minor points.
To fidget, fiddle, be restless.
(intransitive) To cause irritation or deep bitterness.
To fester.
* Rowe
* Burke
Inward corruption and infected sin,
Not purg'd nor heald, behind remained still,
And festring sore did rankle yet within, * 1850 — , chapter XIV *: You are beside him, sleeping and waking. You search his thoughts. You burrow and rankle in his heart! * 1890 — , chapter IX *: The close proximity of the two countries, the relative positions of their ports, made the naval situation particularly strong; and the alliance which was dictated by sound policy, by family ties, and by just fear of England's sea power, was further assured to France by recent and still existing injuries that must continue to rankle with Spain. Gibraltar, Minorca, and Florida were still in the hands of England; no Spaniard could be easy till this reproach was wiped out.
As verbs the difference between niggle and rankle
is that niggle is to trifle with; to deceive; to mock while rankle is to cause irritation or deep bitterness.As a noun niggle
is a minor complaint or problem.niggle
English
Noun
(en noun)London 2012: Christian Taylor aims high as Phillips Idowu stays away, by Anna Kessel
- The Olympic medal contender's back problem has been described as a "niggle " by the head coach, Charles van Commenee, but Porter's friend and former team-mate Danielle Carruthers revealed that the injury is playing on the Briton's mind.
Verb
(niggl)- (Beaumont and Fletcher)
Derived terms
* nigglyAnagrams
*rankle
English
Verb
(rankl)- a splinter rankles in the flesh
- a malady that burns and rankles inward
- This would have left a rankling wound in the hearts of the people.
Quotations
* 1590 — , Book I, Canto X *: But yet the cause and root of all his ill,Inward corruption and infected sin,
Not purg'd nor heald, behind remained still,
And festring sore did rankle yet within, * 1850 — , chapter XIV *: You are beside him, sleeping and waking. You search his thoughts. You burrow and rankle in his heart! * 1890 — , chapter IX *: The close proximity of the two countries, the relative positions of their ports, made the naval situation particularly strong; and the alliance which was dictated by sound policy, by family ties, and by just fear of England's sea power, was further assured to France by recent and still existing injuries that must continue to rankle with Spain. Gibraltar, Minorca, and Florida were still in the hands of England; no Spaniard could be easy till this reproach was wiped out.
