choosy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of choosy
Explanation
Someone who's choosy is very particular or picky. If you're choosy about your food, you might refuse to eat at McDonald's no matter how hungry you are. Choosy people often have a reputation for being hard to please — they might take a long time to make a decision, or reject several choices as not being quite right. If you're choosy, you might hold out for the very best of something. An old TV commercial for peanut butter included the line, "Choosy moms choose Jif!" Choosy is an American English word, from choose, from the Old English root ceosan, "choose," and also "accept or approve."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“They’re being very choosy about which role they test for.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Tech stocks look interesting—but be choosy about which to buy.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
Following a disappointing year for software stocks, investors still have to be choosy when playing the sector, analysts say.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 5, 2026
Viewers can be choosy about how they spend their cash and time, and may not always want to gamble on a movie they’ve never heard of.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
For one thing, they had to be choosy about where they went.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
Now after the wallop of success thanks to “Obsession” and with Oscar-buzz on her name, Navarrette is able to be choosier about the roles she takes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
But I’m starting to get choosier, turning down some potential assignments and not pursuing others.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026
Smithfield Foods cut its outlook for the year, as inflation-weary consumers continue to be choosier in the grocery store and higher costs pressure operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Discretionary companies are up against a consumer that is becoming choosier about where to spend money amid higher inflation and an uptick in interest rates.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob can afford to be a little choosier.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Many of us believe attending the choosiest schools leads to greater success in life.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 13, 2022
To win a treasured acceptance letter from the choosiest colleges you often need something unique, such as a personal research project that impresses admissions office staffers in ways application essays and recommendations don’t.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2022
Now it was a national sensation and even the choosiest stars wanted to get on board.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 20, 2019
Day-Lewis, one of the world's choosiest actors with only five films to his name in the last 15 years, reportedly did not break character once in three months of filming.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 10, 2013
It is not for nothing that Zenith is in matters social rapidly becoming known as the choosiest inland city in the country.
From Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
