persnickety

persnickety
a) Fastidious or fussy.

Marjorie glanced up and down the long street. “Well, I never in my life saw so many different kinds of houses!” she exclaimed. “Aren’t they funny! Why, they look almost like people. Look at that little persnickety one over there — the white, white one with the green, green blinds — doesn’t it look exactly like —”

b) Obsessive about mundane details, demanding for precision.

I have just read the article in your issue for May 16 on dialectic English. The word tempest recalls the surprise I felt at the beginning of three years residence on Cape Cod to hear the word used commonly as an exact synonym for thunderstorm.


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  • Persnickety — Per*snick et*y, a. 1. Finicky or fussy; demanding attention to petty details; of people. [Colloq.] Syn: pernickety, pernicketty. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC] 2. snobbish; behaving aloofly. [Colloq.] Syn: pernickety, pernicketty. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • persnickety — index particular (exacting) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • persnickety — 1905, alteration of pernickety (q.v.) …   Etymology dictionary

  • persnickety — pernickety, fastidious, finicky, finicking, finical, *nice, dainty, particular, fussy, squeamish Analogous words: exacting, demanding, requiring (see DEMAND): annoyed, vexed, irked (see ANNOY) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • persnickety — [adj] fussy, particular careful, choosy, fastidious, finicky, nice, picky; concept 404 Ant. open, unconcerned, unfussy …   New thesaurus

  • persnickety — [pər snik′ə tē] adj. [< pernickety < Scot dial., altered < ? pertickie, child s word for PARTICULAR] Informal 1. too particular or precise; fastidious; fussy 2. showing or requiring extremely careful treatment …   English World dictionary

  • persnickety — adjective 1. (used colloquially) overly conceited or arrogant a snotty little scion of a degenerate family Laurent Le Sage they re snobs stuck up and uppity and persnickety • Syn: ↑bigheaded, ↑snooty, ↑snot nosed, ↑snotty, ↑stuck up, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • persnickety — adjective Etymology: alteration of pernickety Date: 1915 1. a. fussy about small details ; fastidious < a persnickety teacher > b. having the characteristics of a snob 2. requiring great precision < a persnickety job > • persnicket …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • persnickety — adj. (colloq.) (esp. AE) fussy persnickety about * * * (colloq.) (esp. AE) [ fussy ] persnickety about …   Combinatory dictionary

  • persnickety — [[t]pə(r)snɪ̱kɪti[/t]] ADJ GRADED (disapproval) If you describe someone as persnickety, you think that they pay too much attention to small, unimportant details. [AM, INFORMAL] He is a very rigorous man, very persnickety. Syn: fussy (in BRIT, use …   English dictionary

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