pickier; pickiest
: very careful or too careful about choosing or accepting things : fussy, choosy
a picky eater
Because pen collectors are a picky lot, and some antiques dealers who are not in the pen business can overlook the details of condition, there is occasional friction.—
Bill Holland
Bill HollandWith rising ticket prices and new competition from cable TV, cost-conscious families may be pickier about the movies they choose to see.—David Ansen and Martin Kasindorf
David Ansen and Martin Kasindorf
pickiness
noun
Taylor mocks Zavala for the size of his extended Mexican family, their endless chatter and the frequency of their quinceaneras. Zavala ribs Taylor for his white-person pickiness about artisanal coffee and marriage.
—Belinda Luscombe
Belinda Luscombe
Now jobless and forced to live with five housemates in San Jose, Calif., she comes away from every job interview discouraged by employers' pickiness.
—Daniel McGinn
Daniel McGinn
Synonyms of picky
Examples of picky in a Sentence
a picky cat who would only eat one particular kind of food, and only if it was served in his special dish
she's picky, but she always finds the best quality in fresh meat and fish
Recent Examples on the Web
For the pickatarians among us (that's our family's fond name for the picky eaters in our crew.
—Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 8 Dec. 2025
Indoor ferns are notoriously picky about humidity.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Dec. 2025
Mad About You While Mad About You has two great Thanksgiving episodes, the Buchmans' first time hosting Thanksgiving for their picky and particular family and friends easily takes the cake.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 26 Nov. 2025
This new research, one of the largest longitudinal efforts to date, helps narrow those estimates and provides clearer evidence that extreme picky eating is not just a phase for many children.
—Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for picky
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 8 Dec. 2025
Indoor ferns are notoriously picky about humidity.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Dec. 2025
Mad About You While Mad About You has two great Thanksgiving episodes, the Buchmans' first time hosting Thanksgiving for their picky and particular family and friends easily takes the cake.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 26 Nov. 2025
This new research, one of the largest longitudinal efforts to date, helps narrow those estimates and provides clearer evidence that extreme picky eating is not just a phase for many children.
—Daniella Gray, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for picky
Cite this Entry
“Picky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/picky. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share