stickler

American  

[stik-ler] / ˈstɪk lər /

noun

1. a person who insists on something unyieldingly (usually followed byfor ).

   a stickler for ceremony.

   Synonyms:

   perfectionist, purist, fanatic

2. any puzzling or difficult problem.

   Synonyms:

   mystery, riddle, puzzle

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stickler British  

/ ˈstɪklə /

noun

1. (usually foll by for) a person who makes insistent demands

   a stickler for accuracy

2. a problem or puzzle

   the investigation proved to be a stickler

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Etymology

Origin of stickler

First recorded in 1530–40; stickle + -er ¹

Explanation

A stickler is someone who insists that things are done in a certain way. Say you’re getting married and want to write your own vows, but your partner’s mother demands that you have a traditional ceremony. The mother is a stickler for tradition. Stickler has its origins in a word meaning umpire, which may allude to a stickler’s bossy nature. Difficult problems or puzzles are called sticklers. It is helpful when remembering the definition of stickler that it has the word “stick” in it. So someone who “sticks” to the rules is a stickler.

Example Sentences

When Claudius v1 came online, there were only a handful of co-workers in the Slack channel, and the bot, powered by large language model Claude 3.7 Sonnet, was a stickler for the rules:

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

You seem to be a stickler for detail, so that came as a surprise.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 27, 2025

We know Maresca is a stickler for playing out from the back, but doing that against Newcastle is asking for trouble.

From BBC • May 8, 2025

“He’s such a stickler for the details that sometimes I have to tell him to give himself some grace, allow himself to be a little more kind to himself,” Pleasant said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2025

Claudia, a stickler for cleanliness, had insisted that she and her brother take a bath in the museum’s fountain late at night.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai