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Synonyms

finicky

American  
[fin-i-kee] / ˈfɪn ɪ ki /
Sometimes finnicky;

adjective

finickier, finickiest

  1. excessively particular or fastidious; difficult to please; fussy.

    Synonyms:
    picky, choosy, meticulous, demanding, exacting
finicky British  
/ ˈfɪnɪkɪ /

adjective

  1. excessively particular, as in tastes or standards; fussy

  2. full of trivial detail; overelaborate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • superfinicky adjective

Etymology

Origin of finicky

First recorded in 1815–25; finick + -y 1

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.

Two years ago, AI chatbots were too finicky and error-prone to be reliable and broadly useful to most people, says Ram Bala, an associate professor of AI at Santa Clara University.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

Restaurants have struggled this year with rising costs for ingredients such as beef, scarce labor and more finicky customers.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 18, 2025

Watchdogs also caution that the math to determine whether bioenergy projects sequester or release carbon is complicated and finicky.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025

It isn't "finicky" like some, can be frozen and revived without trouble, and is unusually good at hosting foreign DNA.

From BBC • Sep. 25, 2025

“Magic is finicky that way. It doesn’t always turn out how you mean it to.”

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

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.