fiddly
Americanadjective
-
fiddlier,
comparative
-
fiddliest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
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:
But the display is tiny, the neural-band bracelet control is too fiddly and the glasses themselves make me look like a kid playing dress-up with her dad’s ’70s eyewear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Ally and Jay’s rom-com caricature is the cleverest subplot in the movie — the pair are heightened Hallmark Channel ingenues who like fiddly coffee orders, coordinated plaids and the same shade of taupe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2025
The plans outlined include a lot of fiddly changes to how the government makes big decisions on planning, infrastructure, housing and transport.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2024
If this all seems too fiddly, remove the shell altogether, except the tail, and smoke the shrimp following the same method.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2023
“This next one will impress them. When I call, start pumping the bellows, and whatever happens do not slow down, or speed up, or stop. There’s fiddly work involved.”
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
At the robot-powered US pizza-delivery company Zume, the fiddlier jobs, such as topping pizzas, are still done by humans.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 7, 2019
In response India is experimenting with fiddlier ways of deleveraging.
From Economist ● Jun. 5, 2014
The video promised a large amount of Wii U-specific content, and controls which placed some of the more peripheral, and fiddlier, aspects of Arkham City on the Wii U Gamepad's touch-screen.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 5, 2012
“It’s the fiddliest Open that I’ve played,” said McIlroy, who has played 12 previously.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2022
“It’s the fiddliest Open that I’ve played. It’s the only way I can really describe it,” McIlroy said.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 14, 2022
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.
