high-maintenance

English

Etymology

According to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, the figurative sense was popularized by the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally....

Adjective

high-maintenance (comparative more high-maintenance, superlative most high-maintenance)

1. Of a system: requiring a high degree of maintenance to ensure proper functioning, and without which it is likely to break down.
2. (figurative, derogatory, of a person) requiring a lot of attention or reassurance; emotionally needy
   • 1989, Billy Crystal as Harry Burns, When Harry Met Sally...‎^[2], written by Nora Ephron:

     There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance.

   He has this incredibly high-maintenance girlfriend; if he doesn't tell her that he loves her every five minutes, she tends to break down into hysterical depressive weepy fits.

Antonyms

• low-maintenance

See also

• brittle
• finicky
• temperamental