fastidious
pronunciation
How to pronounce fastidious in British English:
UK [fæˈstɪdiəs]
How to pronounce fastidious in American English:
US [fæˈstɪdiəs]
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- Adjective:
- giving and careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness
- having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures
Word Origin
- fastidious (adj.)
- mid-15c., "full of pride," from Latin fastidiosus "disdainful, squeamish, exacting," from fastidium "loathing, squeamishness; dislike, aversion; excessive nicety," which is of uncertain origin; perhaps from *fastu-taidiom, a compound of fastus "contempt, arrogance, pride," and taedium "aversion, disgust." Fastus is possibly from PIE *bhars- (1) "projection, bristle, point," on the notion of "prickliness" (Watkins) or "a semantic shift from 'top' to 'haughtiness' which is conceivable, but the u-stem is not attested independently" [de Vaan], who adds that "fastidium would be a tautology." Early use in English was both in passive and active senses. Meaning "squeamish, over-nice" in English emerged 1610s. Related: Fastidiously; fastidiousness.
Synonym
Example
- 1. So good , in fact , that fastidious german manufacturers are often clients .
- 2. The closest thing to a pet in the home of my fastidious single mother were dust bunnies .
- 3. Fiddling with the little brushes , fine powders and sticky tape can test the patience of the most fastidious crime-scene investigator .
- 4. I missed allan desperately-his calm , sure voice ; the sweetly fastidious way he folded his shirts .
- 5. No matter how fastidious you are , there 's always going to be something that slips through your dating system or doesn 't appear on any of the lists .