finicky

adjective

fin·​icky ˈfi-ni-kē 

1

: extremely or excessively particular, exacting, or meticulous in taste or standards

a finicky eater

My teacher is finicky about spelling.

2

: requiring much care, precision, or attentive effort

a finicky recipe

… growing the finicky Pinot Noir grape …

—Kim Marcus

finickiness noun

Did you know?

If you’re a reader of a certain age (say, a Boomer, Gen Xer, or even a Xennial), you may remember cheeky television commercials featuring Morris, a finicky housecat who only eats a certain brand of cat food. (Morris is still featured on product labels.) Morris's tastes in cuisine are not only very particular, but very fine as well, and that's appropriate given the origin of finicky. The word came about as an alteration of finicking, itself an alteration of another adjective, finical. It's believed that finical derives from the adjective fine.

Synonyms

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

Examples of finicky in a Sentence

My teacher is finicky about grammar.

a complicated and finicky recipe

Recent Examples on the Web

Honda is also working to reduce the indirect costs of production, including power consumption even though the necessary temperature of building as solid-state batteries are less finicky during production (and usage). —Jake Lingeman, Newsweek, 25 Nov. 2024

Mauritian women, a renewable source of cheap labor, might be trained to do the finicky work of drilling holes into jewels for luxury watches. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024

Target missed the mark, while Walmart nailed it — a difference that partly comes down to bargain-hungry customers’ finicky appetites for nonessentials, analysts say. —Rob Wile, NBC News, 20 Nov. 2024

The joystick works fine, but the double-tap gesture to switch between noise cancellation and transparency modes can be a bit finicky. —PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

alteration of finicking

First Known Use

circa 1825, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

finicky

adjective

fin·​icky ˈfin-i-kē 

: very hard to please : fussy

a finicky eater

finickiness noun