persnickety
adjective
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Persnickety people like things neat and tidy, but the etymology of persnickety doesn't provide the kind of clean, clear explanation that appeals to the fastidious. Persnickety was first documented in English in the late 19th century as an alteration of pernickety, a word that has the same meaning. Pernickety goes back to the early 1800s, but from there, the word's history gets messy. Some say pernickety might be from a child's version of particular; others, that the nick part came from association with knick-knack. Or perhaps the Latin prefix per-, meaning "thoroughly," played a role. But it's all conjecture-no one knows for sure.
Synonyms
Examples of persnickety in a Sentence
Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024
But even with Ed Begley onboard as a doctor with tenuous ties to his Hippocratic oath, Elizabeth Perkins steals the show playing Funkhouser’s persnickety new flame, Marilyn.
—Larry Fitzmaurice, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2024
Others are patently unsuitable, notably a persnickety couple who prompt one of John’s rare outbursts of frustration with the process.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2024
Working in visual effects had given him a persnickety lens on the world.
—Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024
The more persnickety ones bemoan the product for dumbing down product creation and flooding the hobbyist market with lackluster goods.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Oct. 2011
All are notoriously persnickety when evaluating food prepared by the contestants, and the bar for excellence rises as the season progresses.
—Mary Colurso | McOlurso@al.com, al, 13 Sep. 2023
But Wilson is in his comfort zone as ever with Anderson, playing Francis’s persnickety dedication to the trip’s itinerary with his typical generosity.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 26 June 2023
Earlier, more persnickety machines would operate between 50% and 75% of the available time, vexing officials trying to schedule a facility’s users.
—Byadrian Cho, science.org, 4 May 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'persnickety.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near persnickety
Cite this Entry
“Persnickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/persnickety. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
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