persnickety

adjective

per·snick·e·ty pər-ˈsni-kə-tē

Synonyms of persnickety

: fussy about small details : fastidious

a persnickety teacher

: having the characteristics of a snob

: requiring great precision

a persnickety job

persnicketiness

pər-ˈsni-kə-tē-nəs

noun

Did you know?

Persnickety people like things neat and tidy, but the etymology of persnickety doesn't provide the kind of clean, clear explanation that appeals to the fastidious. Persnickety was first documented in English in the late 19th century as an alteration of pernickety, a word that has the same meaning. Pernickety goes back to the early 1800s, but from there, the word's history gets messy. Some say pernickety might be from a child's version of particular; others, that the nick part came from association with knick-knack. Or perhaps the Latin prefix per-, meaning "thoroughly," played a role. But it's all conjecture-no one knows for sure.

Examples of persnickety in a Sentence

as she got older, she got more and more persnickety lacked the patience to deal with such persnickety tasks as hanging wallpaper

Recent Examples on the Web

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But Wilson is in his comfort zone as ever with Anderson, playing Francis’s persnickety dedication to the trip’s itinerary with his typical generosity. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 12 June 2025 What would the notoriously persnickety Corbitt say about those bold additions? —Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 17 May 2025