fastidious

English

WOTD – 3 December 2006

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fæˈstɪdi.əs/, /fəˈstɪdi.əs/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (AU):

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Adjective

fastidious (comparative more fastidious, superlative most fastidious)

1. Excessively particular, demanding, or fussy about details, especially about tidiness and cleanliness.

   Synonyms: exacting, fussy, meticulous, niggly, pernickety; see also Thesaurus:fastidious

   • 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.

   • 2004, Maria Osborne Perr, Ravished Wings‎^[1]:

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

   • 2008, Robert Fisher, Memory Road‎^[2]:

     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.

2. Overly concerned about tidiness and cleanliness.
   • 2010, Debra Lee Baldwin, Succulent Container Gardens: Design Eye-Catching Displays with 350 Easy-Care ...

     "If you are fastidious, clean previously used pots inside and out; if not, merely clean the outside (unless you are battling a pest infestation; then the inside will need scrubbing as well)."

3. Difficult to please; quick to find fault.
   • 1881, Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady:

     You're too fastidious, and too indolent, and too rich.

   • 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.

Derived terms

• fastidiously
• fastidiousness

Translations

excessively particular

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

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

• Czech: puntíčkářský m, pečlivý (cs) m, akurátní, náročný (cs) m, pedantský (cs) m
• Dutch: kieskeurig (nl)
• Esperanto: finika
• Finnish: nirso (fi), turhantarkka
• French: pointilleux (fr), minutieux (fr)
• German: pedantisch (de), manisch (de), (colloquial) pingelig (de), kleinlich (de), akribisch (de), minutiös (de), überkorrekt
• Irish: meonúil
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: pignolo (it), meticoloso (it)
• Japanese: 几帳面な (きちょうめんな, kichōmen-na)
• Maori: manaia, warahoe (refers to food), whakatarapī, mōkinokino (refers to food), manaia
• Occitan: meticulós, primejaire, menimós (oc), espepidaire, manhac, manhagós
• Polish: drobiazgowy (pl) m, skrupulatny (pl) m
• Portuguese: meticuloso (pt), minucioso (pt)
• Romanian: minuțios (ro)
• Russian: (излишне) тре́бовательный (ru) (trébovatelʹnyj), привере́дливый (ru) (priverédlivyj), приди́рчивый (ru) (pridírčivyj), скрупулёзный (ru) (skrupuljóznyj)
• Spanish: cicatero (es), quisquilloso (es), regodeón
• Swedish: nogräknad (sv), granntyckt (sv)

overly concerned about tidiness and cleanliness

• Bulgarian: изтънчен (bg) (iztǎnčen)
• Czech: úzkostlivý m
• Dutch: scrupuleus (nl)
• Esperanto: minuciosa
• French: méticuleux (fr)
• German: (colloquial) pingelig (de), penibel (de), übergenau (de), etepetete (de)
• Italian: meticoloso (it) m, precisino (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: whakautiuti
• Occitan: maniac, netejaire (oc), manhac, manhagós
• Russian: брезгли́вый (ru) (brezglívyj)
• Spanish: maniático (es) de la limpieza
• Swedish: petig (sv), petnoga (sv)
• Turkish: titiz (tr)

difficult to please

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

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

• Dutch: veeleisend (nl)
• French: exigeant (fr)
• German: anspruchsvoll (de), wählerisch (de), kleinlich (de), mäkelig, zimperlich (de), eigen (de), heikel (de)
• Japanese: 気難しい (きむずかしい, kimuzukashii), 好みのむずかしい (このみのむずかしい, konomi no muzukashii)
• Maori: mōkinokino (refers only to food)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Occitan: exigent, refastinhós, manhac, manhagós
• Polish: wybredny (pl) m
• Portuguese: exigente (pt)
• Romanian: cusurgiu (ro) m, mofturos (ro) m
• Russian: прихотли́вый (ru) (prixotlívyj)
• Spanish: exigente (es)
• Swedish: kräsen (sv) c, kinkig (sv)
• Turkish: güçbeğenir (tr), müşkülpesent (tr)

See also

• finicky

Further reading

• “fastidious”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “fastidious”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “fastidious”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.