persnickety

[ per-snik-i-tee ]

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Part of Speech adjective

Origin + Etymology

Late-19th century; English from Scots, variant of pernickety

Synonyms

careful fastidious picky

nitpicky finicky choosy

Antonyms

unfussy unconcerned

open easygoing laid-back

Definition

1. requiring painstaking care

2. overparticular; fussy

Examples

1. A) She was very persnickety over her painting, wanting every minor detail to be perfect. B) Her persnickety nature tended to get on people's nerves, however, he appreciated how careful she was.

2. A) Her boss had proven needlessly persnickety about some of the procedures, which did not endear him to his underlings. B) His persnickety approach had alienated him from so many other jobs, but it worked wonders when details mattered.

Usage Over Time

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Usage Over Time

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alimentation

[ al-uh-men-tey-shuhn ]

the provision of nourishment or other necessities of life

perspicacious

[ pur-spi-key-shuhs ]

having a ready insight into and understanding of things

gorp

[ gawrp ]

a mixture of nuts, raisins, dried fruits, seeds, or the like eaten as a high-energy snack, as by hikers and climbers

pleonasm

[ plee-uh-naz-uhm ]

the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; redundancy

ingratiating

[ in-grey-shee-ey-ting ]

charming; agreeable; pleasing; deliberately meant to gain favor

ambrosial

[ am-broh-zhuhl ]

exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; especially delicious or fragrant

logorrhea

[ law-guh-ree-uh ]

pathologically incoherent, repetitious speech; incessant or compulsive talkativeness

anfractuous

[ an-frak-choo-uhs ]

characterized by windings and turnings; sinuous; circuitous

umami

[ oo-mah-mee ]

a strong meaty taste imparted by glutamate and certain other amino acids: often considered to be one of the basic taste sensations along with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty