Stickles

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. To insist firmly and often unreasonably on a particular point or matter ; to feel uncertain or reluctant about something
2. To demand or assert something obstinately ; to waver or show reluctance in one's position
3. To hold out stubbornly for a specific thing or principle ; to be troubled by doubt or scruple about a course of action

Etymology: Stickles is the third-person singular of "stickle," a verb meaning to make difficulties over small matters, often seen in phrases like "stickles at" or "stickles for." Its history is split across three unrelated sources that happen to share a spelling. The oldest strand comes from Old English "sticel," meaning a prickle, sting or goad, which also gave a sense of something high and steep. From that root, the "stickle" of rapids and sharp rises in a river took its name, and it later came to mean a sharp, troublesome point. The verb sense has a different origin. It derives from a variant of "stightle," meaning to order, arrange or direct, which descends from Middle English "stight," to govern. The suffix "-le" is frequentative, marking repeated action, so the original idea was roughly to keep fussing over arrangements. Over time, that fussing turned into the modern sense of raising objections over trivial details.

Synonyms: disputes, quarrels, wrangles