finicky
adjective
Simple meaning
Fastidious and fussy.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
finuhkeeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɪnəki
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
informalof a person
Fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting, especially about details.
informal
Demanding; requiring above-normal care.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (informal, of a person) Fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting, especially about details.
Used this way, finicky is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Casual
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Careful and exacting
- Usage feel
- Casual and conversational
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Nearby words
- finical , much rarer in everyday speech
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: fastidious and fussy
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.