stickler

American  

[stik-ler] / ˈstɪk lər /

noun

1. a person who insists on something unyieldingly (usually followed byfor ).

   a stickler for ceremony.

   Synonyms:

   perfectionist, purist, fanatic

2. any puzzling or difficult problem.

   Synonyms:

   mystery, riddle, puzzle

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stickler British  

/ ˈstɪklə /

noun

1. (usually foll by for) a person who makes insistent demands

   a stickler for accuracy

2. a problem or puzzle

   the investigation proved to be a stickler

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Etymology

Origin of stickler

First recorded in 1530–40; stickle + -er ¹

Example Sentences

My father, a World War II officer and stickler for correctness, was especially proud of my medal.

From The Wall Street Journal

Always the stickler about staying in character, she had not called me Nell since we left Chicago.

From Literature

When Claudius v1 came online, there were only a handful of co-workers in the Slack channel, and the bot, powered by large language model Claude 3.7 Sonnet, was a stickler for the rules:

From The Wall Street Journal

“I warn you, sir, I can be a stickler when it comes to my accommodations. I imagine you know the story of the princess and the pea?”

From Literature

You seem to be a stickler for detail, so that came as a surprise.

From MarketWatch