FASTIDIOUS

fastidious

(adjective) giving careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness; “a fastidious and incisive intellect”; “fastidious about personal cleanliness”

fastidious, exacting

(adjective) having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures; “fastidious microorganisms”; “certain highly specialized xerophytes are extremely exacting in their requirements”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adjective

fastidious (comparative more fastidious, superlative most fastidious)

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

Synonyms: exacting, fussy, meticulous, niggly, pernickety, Thesaurus:fastidious

Overly concerned about tidiness and cleanliness.

Difficult to please; quick to find fault.

Source: Wiktionary


Fas*tid"i*ous, a. Etym: [L. fastidiosus disdainful, fr. fastidium loathing, aversion, perh. fr. fastus arrogance (of uncertain origin) + taedium loathing. Cf. Tedious, Fash.]

Definition: Difficult to please; delicate to fault; suited with difficulty; squeamish; as, a fastidious mind or ear; a fastidious appetite. Proud youth ! fastidious of the lower world. Young.

Syn.

– Squeamish; critical; overnice; difficult; punctilious.

– Fastidious, Squeamish. We call a person fastidious when his taste or feelings are offended by trifling defects or errors; we call him squeamish when he is excessively nice or critical on minor points, and also when he is overscrupulous as to questions of duty. "Whoever examines his own imperfections will cease to be fastidious; whoever restrains his caprice and scrupulosity will cease to be squeamish." Crabb.

– Fas*tid"i*ous*ly, adv.

– Fas*tid"i*ous*ness, n.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

22 June 2025

STRAP

(noun) an elongated leather strip (or a strip of similar material) for binding things together or holding something in position


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Coffee Trivia

International Coffee Day (September 29) is an occasion to promote and celebrate coffee as a beverage, with events occurring in places across the world. A day to promote fair trade coffee and raise awareness for the coffee growers’ plight. Other countries celebrate this event on October 1.

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