stickle
verb
stick·le ˈsti-kəl 
stickled; stickling ˈsti-k(ə-)liŋ
intransitive verb
1
: to contend especially stubbornly and usually on insufficient grounds
2
: to feel scruples : scruple
Word History
Etymology
alteration of Middle English stightlen, frequentative of stighten to arrange, from Old English stihtan; akin to Old Norse stētta to found, support
First Known Use
1625, in the meaning defined at sense 1