picky

adjective

ˈpi-kē 

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

With 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

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

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

Synonyms

• choosy
• choosey
• dainty
• delicate
• demanding
• exacting
• fastidious
• finical
• finicking
• finicky
• fussbudgety
• fussy
• nice
• old-maidish
• particular
• pernickety [chiefly British]
• persnickety

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

The Seahawks might continue to be picky and bypass selecting a quarterback later this month. —Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025

For picky eaters, Beaches has a Culinary Concierge who can work with guests with autism to create custom menus. —Jamie Davis Smith, AFAR Media, 7 Apr. 2025

The flavor of the cat probiotic appeals to picky eaters. —Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025

Kate often reaches for Streit’s, but neither of us is picky. —Emma Laperruque, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for picky

• dickie
• dicky
• hickey
• micky
• nicky
• quickie
• rickey
• sticky
• tricky
• colicky

Kids Definition

picky

adjective

ˈpik-ē 

pickier; pickiest

: fussy sense 2b, finicky