niggly
/ˈnɪɡ(ə)li/
"niggly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“niggly” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Bad-tempered, especially about trivial details.
Corpus desk
Index EN-niggly · niggly · English
niggly · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "N" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | niggly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈnɪɡ(ə)li/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “niggly” in English
Rare enough to double-check
niggly is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈnɪɡ(ə)li/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
niggly has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From niggle + -y. The correct English form is niggly, spelled N-I-G-G-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Bad-tempered, especially about trivial details.
- 2Trivial, insignificant
- 3Pernickety, paying too much attention to small details.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how niggly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
With so much at stake, both teams were hesitant and cagey early on, the game with littered with late tackles and niggly fouls.
They'd argue a lot, about little niggly things — and they had never been like that.
Etymology
From niggle + -y.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.