🌰 A nut gatherer 🛠️ A nut tool 🧐 To unfairly criticize

to nutpick

9.9

To pick out one extreme comment to criticize and ignore the main argument

verb
/ˈnʌtˌpɪk/

Neologism

: criticar

Instead of discussing the real issues, he chose to nutpick the most ridiculous statement.

Examples

Some journalists nutpick social media posts to make a group look unreasonable.
It's unfair to nutpick one comment and ignore the main argument.
Don't nutpick my arguments!
He always nutpicks my points during debates.
It's common for critics to nutpick the weakest argument in a debate to score points against their opponent.
During the discussion, he decided to nutpick a small mistake instead of addressing the broader issues at hand.
When reviewing the article, she noticed how the author tended to nutpick a few comments to discredit the entire argument.

Synonyms

to split hairs

vsto nutpick

Informal

15 6.8

Argue about very small differences that do not matter

targets the most extreme or foolish argument while ignoring reasonable points

Antonyms

to consider

∞ 1.1

To think carefully before making a decision

to acknowledge

367 3.8

To admit that something is true or real

How Critical

attack

548 3.2

to nutpick

Neologism

9.9

to nitpick

21 5.7

to criticize

701 3.3

to point out

∞ 1.8

to note

951 1.6

Surface Forms

nutpick infinitive

nutpicked past

nutpicked past participle

nutpicking present participle

nutpicks third person singular

Morphology

nutpick = nut + pick (semi-transparent) = nut + pick

The word is transparently built from 'nut' and 'pick', but the specialized online sense 'selecting the most extreme argument' is a metaphorical extension rather than a fully literal combination.

Etymology

A helpful way to remember the verb nutpick is to think of the parts nut and pick, where 'pick' means 'to choose' or 'single out'. So to nutpick an argument is to choose the most extreme or silly point and criticize it while ignoring the rest.