finicky

English

Etymology

From finick (“to work in a fastidious manner, wasting time over unnecesasary details”) +‎ -y. Compare finicking, finical, and dated finikin. Perhaps suggested by obsolete Dutch fijnkens (“accurately, neatly, prettily”) (modern Dutch fijntjes). Compare also Sicilian finicchiu.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfɪnɪki/
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Adjective

finicky (comparative finickier or more finicky, superlative finickiest or most finicky)

(informal, of a person) Fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting, especially about details.
Synonyms: fastidious, fussy; see also Thesaurus:fastidious

My editor is very finicky about punctuation. Every dot and comma has to be just right.

She has a finicky baby that's hard to feed.
(informal) Demanding; requiring above-normal care.
The lawnmower is a bit finicky in cold weather.

Usage notes

The forms finickier and finickiest also exist, but are quite rare, and perhaps nonstandard. The forms more finicky and most finicky are much more common, and certainly standard.

Derived terms

Translations

fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting

Catalan: primmirat (ca)
Czech: vybíravý, puntičkářský (cs)
French: pinailleur (fr) m, pointilleux (fr) m
Galician: repugnante
German: kleinlich (de), anspruchsvoll (de), wählerisch (de), pedantisch (de), etepetete (de), zimperlich (de), affektiert (de), pingelig (de), krütsch (de) (regional), überkorrekt, übergenau (de), peinlich genau
Hungarian: szőrszálhasogató (hu)
Italian: puntiglioso (it)
Ottoman Turkish: تتیز (titiz)
Russian: привере́дливый (ru) (priverédlivyj)
Spanish: fastidioso (es), melindroso (es), remilgado (es), puntilloso (es), quisquilloso (es), tiquismiquis (es), pejiguero (es), esquilimoso, pedante (es), escolimoso (es)
Swedish: petig (sv)

demanding, requiring above-normal care

German: anspruchsvoll (de), heikel (de), pflegebedürftig (de)
Russian: капризный (ru) m (kapriznyj) (informal)
Swedish: pillig