fastidious

fas·tid·i·ous

adj \fa-ˈsti-dē-əs, fə-\

Definition of FASTIDIOUS

1

archaic : scornful

2

a : having high and often capricious standards : difficult to please <critics … so fastidious that they can talk only to a small circle of initiates — Granville Hicks> b : showing or demanding excessive delicacy or care c : reflecting a meticulous, sensitive, or demanding attitude <fastidious workmanship>

3

: having complex nutritional requirements <fastidious microorganisms>

— fas·tid·i·ous·ly adverb

— fas·tid·i·ous·ness noun

Examples of FASTIDIOUS

1. He is fastidious about keeping the house clean.
2. She was too fastidious to do anything that might get her dirty.
3. My mother had always been the most fastidious and organized of people—a wet ring left on her coffee table by a glass could drive her to distraction. —John B. Judis, New Republic, 14 Oct. 1996
4. “I'll stop off and get us a sandwich,” said Matthew. … Tony, a fastidious eater, sighed. —Penelope Lively, City of the Mind, 1991
5. Though he prides himself on being hip, he is too fastidious to do anything dangerous or dirty. —Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984

Origin of FASTIDIOUS

Middle English, from Latin fastidiosus, from fastidium disgust, probably from fastus arrogance (probably akin to Latin fastigium top) + taedium irksomeness — more at tedium

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to FASTIDIOUS

Synonyms: choosy (or choosey), dainty, delicate, demanding, exacting, finicky, finical, finicking, fussbudgety, fussy, nice, old-maidish, particular, pernickety [chiefly British], persnickety, picky

Antonyms: undemanding, unfastidious, unfussy

Related Words: hyperfastidious, overdemanding, ultrafastidious; discerning, discriminating, selective; insightful, knowledgeable; captious, carping, caviling (or cavilling), critical, faultfinding, hypercritical, overcritical; careful, meticulous, painstaking, punctilious, scrupulous; queasy (also queazy), squeamish; peevish, petulant, prickly, touchy; niminy-piminy, prim, prissy

Near Antonyms: affable, breezy, carefree, devil-may-care, happy-go-lucky, lackadaisical, laid-back, low-pressure, relaxed; flexible, lax, loose; lenient, permissive; uncritical; indiscriminating, undiscriminating

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Rhymes with FASTIDIOUS

insidious, invidious, perfidious