Test
Your
Word IQ! Play Now

picky

[ pik-ee ]
/ ˈpɪk i /

adjective, pick·i·er, pick·i·est.

extremely fussy or finicky, usually over trifles.

QUIZZES

Can You Remember Your Favorite Words Of The Day From March?
Even if you’re a habitué of Word of the Day, you haven’t seen our March words in these ways! Challenge yourself to our comprehensive quiz!
Question 1 of 15
What does "habitué" mean?
a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste.
a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.
a lazy person who stays in bed long after the usual time for arising.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of picky

First recorded in 1865–70; pick1 + -y1

OTHER WORDS FROM picky

pick·i·ness, noun

Words nearby picky

pickwick papers, the, pickwick, samuel, pickwickian, pickwickian syndrome, pickwickianism, picky, picloram, picnic, picnic races, pico de aneto, pico de são tomé
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

British Dictionary definitions for pickiness

picky
/ (ˈpɪkɪ) /

adjective pickier or pickiest

informal fussy; finicky; choosy

Derived forms of picky

pickily, adverbpickiness, noun
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