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View synonyms for fussy

fussy

[ fuhs-ee ]

adjective

, fuss·i·er, fuss·i·est.
  1. excessively busy with trifles; anxious or particular about petty details.
  2. hard to satisfy or please:

    a fussy eater.

    Synonyms: persnickety, finicky, choosy, particular

  3. (of clothes, decoration, etc.) elaborately made, trimmed, or decorated:

    All the bric-a-brac gave the room a fussy, cluttered look.

  4. full of details, especially in excess:

    His writing is so fussy I lose the thread of the story.



fussy

/ ˈfʌsɪ /

adjective

  1. inclined to fuss over minor points
  2. very particular about detail
  3. characterized by overelaborate detail

    the furniture was too fussy to be elegant

“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


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Derived Forms

  • ˈfussily, adverb
  • ˈfussiness, noun
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Other Words From

  • fussi·ly adverb
  • fussi·ness noun
  • over·fussy adjective
  • un·fussi·ly adverb
  • un·fussi·ness noun
  • un·fussy adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of fussy1

First recorded in 1825–35; fuss + -y 1
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Example Sentences

Like some of the other prizes here, this legacy from when Azerbaijan was under Soviet rule is fussy going for the baker.

Toddlers want to touch and push and pull, but they can get easily frustrated if something is too technical or fussy.

The best science gifts for kids over $50 will be educational, well made, not overly complicated and fussy, and allow for many hours of play and use.

One day as we were going out for breakfast, she was extremely irritable and fussy that morning.

Of its options, she says Philodendron bipennifolium and Rhaphidophora tetrasperma aren’t “super fussy.”

In the era of Tea Party stunts and dramatic fan-based delays, the debate was moderately fussy.

It was nearing naptime and so the three hurried to grab groceries, worrying that the baby would get fussy after too long.

“Those kids are starting to be of legal drinking age,” McMahan says of once-fussy eaters who he hopes remain picky drinkers, too.

The fussy legal language complicates what is sometimes a life-or-death situation.

Last month a similarly fussy—if more PG—correction went viral.

Farewell, too, energetic and laborious dancer, my partner's middle-aged fussy cousin!

"I don't know," he muttered in the face of a fussy little woman, who jumped aside to let him pass.

We could get along with her all right; sometimes she is splendid, even if she is so fussy.

By calling fussy little strikes often enough I could have kept the profits close to the zero mark.

I wish my wife was not so fussy, though that is a kind of thing, Lady Eustace, that one has to expect from young wives.

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