What is one who makes excessively nice or needless distinctions in reasoning; one who quibbles. "The caviling hairsplitter." De Quincey called?
hairsplitter — One who makes excessively nice or needless distinctions in reasoning; one who quibbles. "The caviling hairsplitter." De Quincey. (Webster's 1913.)
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00