Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Insisting capriciously on getting just what one wants; difficult to please; fastidious.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Same as finikin.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective informal Fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting, especially about details.
  • adjective informal Demanding, requiring above-normal care.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective exacting especially about details

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From finick, a finical person, from finical.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From finicking, from finical, from fine

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Examples

  • On the other hand, no one that stands in finicky dread of it and similar diseases can afford to travel in the South Seas.

    Chapter 12 1913

  • On the other hand, no one that stands in finicky dread of it and similar diseases can afford to travel in the South Seas.

    Chapter 12 1911

  • On the other hand, no one that stands in finicky dread of it and similar diseases can afford to travel in the South Seas.

    "The High Seat Of Abundance" 1908

  • For example, what the researchers term a "finicky slow student" - one obsessed with constant review at a very slow pace - will never perfectly learn a given topic.

    Gizmodo Samuel Arbesman - Wired 2012

  • Poinsettias, for example, are known as finicky plants that crave dark more than light, and which will die without that proper care.

    Greeley Tribune - Top Stories 2009

  • Poinsettias, for example, are known as finicky plants that crave dark more than light, and which will die without that proper care.

    Greeley Tribune - Top Stories 2009

  • Sometimes that kind of finicky analysis can indeed ruin the magic, but it can also improve one's appreciation of a truly great work.

    Casablanca Ed Howard 2008

  • Chicken doesn't mean you're demure; it means you're "finicky" echoes Sloane Crosley.

    Skinny "Bastards" and Pastors Join "Bitches" in Praising V-word 2007

  • Because the particles block direct sunlight more than diffuse rays, they also alter the balance of radiation reaching Earth's surface, with unknown consequences for plants that can be kind of finicky about the kind of sunlight they need.

    The ‘Geo-Engineering’ Scenario 2007

  • These people put their time in by performing numerous tasks, including starting, marshaling, first aid, placating "finicky" golfers, janitorial work, cart maintenance and, of course, lessons to beginning golfers.

    USATODAY.com - Readers cast their votes, weigh in on worst jobs 2005

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