fastidious
- excessively particular, critical, or demanding; hard to please: a fastidious eater.
- requiring or characterized by excessive care or delicacy; painstaking.
Origin of fastidious
Synonym study
Related Words for fastidiousness
meticulousness, carefulness, preciseness, punctiliousness, care, fussiness, painstakingExamples from the Web for fastidiousness
Historical Examples of fastidiousness
Heyst's dread arose, not out of shame or timidity, but from his fastidiousness.
VictoryJoseph Conrad
The attitude of warding off reveals itself as fastidiousness and as bashfulness.
Erasmus and the Age of ReformationJohan Huizinga
But all the rich tremble before the fastidiousness of the poor.
Appreciations and Criticisms of the Works of Charles DickensG. K. Chesterton
Then I found you, Elfride, and I felt for the first time that my fastidiousness was a blessing.
A Pair of Blue EyesThomas Hardy
Fastidiousness is slavery to this or that particular style or fashion.
Practical EthicsWilliam DeWitt Hyde
fastidious
- very critical; hard to please
- excessively particular about details
- exceedingly delicate; easily disgusted
Word Origin for fastidious
Word Origin and History for fastidiousness
fastidious
mid-15c., "full of pride," from Latin fastidiosus "disdainful, squeamish, exacting," from fastidium "loathing, squeamishness," most likely from *fastu-taidiom, a compound of fastus "contempt, arrogance" and taedium "aversion, disgust." Early use in English was both in passive and active senses. Meaning "squeamish, over-nice" emerged in English 1610s. Related: Fastidiously; fastidiousness.
fastidious
(fă-stĭd′ē-əs, fə-)- Possessing or displaying careful, meticulous attention to detail.
- Difficult to please; exacting.
- Having complex nutritional requirements. Used of microorganisms.