fastidious

adjective fas·tid·i·ous \fa-ˈsti-dē-əs, fə-\

: very careful about how you do something

: liking few things : hard to please

: wanting to always be clean, neat, etc.

Full Definition of FASTIDIOUS

archaic : scornful

a : having high and often capricious standards : difficult to please <critics … so fastidious that they can talk only to a small circle of initiates — Granville Hicks>

b : showing or demanding excessive delicacy or care

c : reflecting a meticulous, sensitive, or demanding attitude <fastidious workmanship>

: having complex nutritional requirements <fastidious microorganisms>

— fas·tid·i·ous·ly adverb

— fas·tid·i·ous·ness noun

See fastidious defined for English-language learners

See fastidious defined for kids

Examples of FASTIDIOUS

My mother had always been the most fastidious and organized of people—a wet ring left on her coffee table by a glass could drive her to distraction. —John B. Judis, New Republic, 14 Oct. 1996
“I'll stop off and get us a sandwich,” said Matthew. … Tony, a fastidious eater, sighed. —Penelope Lively, City of the Mind, 1991
Though he prides himself on being hip, he is too fastidious to do anything dangerous or dirty. —Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City, 1984
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Origin of FASTIDIOUS

Middle English, from Latin fastidiosus, from fastidium disgust, probably from fastus arrogance (probably akin to Latin fastigium top) + taedium irksomeness — more at tedium

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to FASTIDIOUS

Synonyms: choosy (or choosey), dainty, delicate, demanding, exacting, finicky, finical, finicking, fussbudgety, fussy, nice, old-maidish, particular, pernickety [chiefly British], persnickety, picky

Antonyms: undemanding, unfastidious, unfussy

Rhymes with FASTIDIOUS

insidious, invidious, perfidious

FASTIDIOUS Defined for Kids

fastidious

adjective fas·tid·i·ous \fa-ˈsti-dē-əs\

Definition of FASTIDIOUS for Kids

: hard to please : very particular <a fastidious dresser>

Medical Dictionary

fastidious

adjective fas·tid·i·ous \fa-ˈstid-ē-əs, fə-\

Medical Definition of FASTIDIOUS

: having complex nutritional requirements <fastidious microorganisms>—used of bacteria that grow only in specially fortified artificial culture media