fastidious

English

WOTD – 3 December 2006    

Etymology

From Latin fastidiosus (“passive: that feels disgust, disdainful, scornful, fastidious; active: that causes disgust, disgusting, loathsome”), from fastidium (“a loathing, aversion, disgust, niceness of taste, daintiness, etc.”), perhaps for *fastutidium, from fastus (“disdain, haughtiness, arrogance, disgust”) + taedium (“disgust”). Confer French fastidieux.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fæˈstɪdiəs/, /fəˈstɪdiəs/, X-SAMPA: /f{stIdi@s/, /f@stIdi@s/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

fastidious (comparative more fastidious, superlative most fastidious)

1. Excessively particular, demanding, or fussy about details, especially about tidiness and cleanliness.
   • 2008, Robert Fisher, Memory Road, [1]:

     His fastidious nature had been evident in his careful snipping of a customer's hair and now he guided his pencil with the same adroitness.

   • 2004, Maria Osborne Perr, Ravished Wings, [2]:

     As she cleaned the room daily, she knew it was against his fastidious nature to bring or have food in his room.

   • 2003, Lynsay Sands, Single White Vampire:
   • He had at first tried to clean up as they ate, his fastidious nature kicking in, but Chris had told him to just stop, he was blocking the TV.
2. Difficult to please; quick to find fault.
   • 1897, Kate Chopin, The Lilies,

     "It's burn[t], M'sieur," said Marie Louise, politely, but decidedly, to the utter confusion of Mr. Billy, who was as mortified as could be at the failure of his dinner to please his fastidious little visitor.

Synonyms

• (excessively particular): exacting, fussy, meticulous
• See also Wikisaurus:fastidious

Translations

excessively particular

• Asturian: repunu (ast) m, repunante (ast) m and f
• Bulgarian: взискателен (bg) (vziskatelen), придирчив (bg) (pridirčiv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 挑剔 (cmn) (tiāoti), 苛求 (cmn) (kēqiú), 過細 (cmn), 过细 (cmn) (guòxì)

• Dutch: kieskeurig (nl)
• Finnish: nirso (fi), turhantarkka (fi)
• French: pointilleux (fr), minutieux (fr)

• German: wählerisch (de), anspruchsvoll (de)
• Italian: pignolo (it), meticoloso (it)
• Japanese: 几帳面な (ja) (きちょうめんな, kichōmen-na)
• Maori: mōkinokino (mi), warahoe (mi), manaia (mi)
• Portuguese: meticuloso (pt)
• Romanian: minuțios (ro)
• Russian: (излишне) требовательный (ru) (trébovatelʹnyj), привередливый (ru) (priverédlivyj), придирчивый (ru) (pridírčivyj), скрупулёзный (ru) (skrupuljóznyj)
• Spanish: cicatero (es), quisquilloso (es), regodeón (es)

overly concerned about tidiness

• Bulgarian: изтънчен (bg) (iztǎnčen)
• Dutch: scrupuleus (nl)
• French: méticuleux (fr)

• Russian: брезгливый (ru) (brezglívyj)
• Spanish: maniático (es) de la limpieza
• Turkish: titiz (tr)

difficult to please

• Bulgarian: капризен (bg) (kaprizen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 難取悅的 (cmn), 难取悦的 (cmn) (nán qǔyuè de)

• Dutch: veeleisend (nl)
• French: exigeant (fr)
• German: anspruchsvoll (de), wählerisch (de), (colloquial) pingelig (de), kleinlich (de)

• Japanese: 気難しい (ja) (きむずかしい, kimuzukashii), 好みのむずかしい (ja) (このみのむずかしい, konomi no muzukashii)
• Maori: mōkinokino (mi) (refers only to food)
• Romanian: cusurgiu (ro) m, mofturos (ro) m
• Russian: прихотливый (ru) (prixotlívyj)
• Spanish: exigente (es)
• Swedish: kräsen (sv) c
• Turkish: güçbeğenir (tr), müşkülpesent (tr)

See also

• finicky

External links

• fastidious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• fastidious in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• fastidious at OneLook Dictionary Search