finickety about

9.1

Being very picky about small details when choosing or arranging things

idiom
/fɪˈnɪkɪti əˈbaʊt/

: exigente

My grandmother is finickety about the way her table is set for dinner.

Examples

She is very finickety about her food.
Don't be so finickety about your work!
He's always finickety about the brands of clothes he wears.
She became finickety about where she shops after her last experience.
He's always finickety about the brands of clothes he wears.
My grandmother is finickety about the way her table is set for dinner.
She became finickety about where she shops after her last experience.

Synonyms

particular

vsfinickety about

106 4.4

Careful about small details and hard to please

is more about excessive fussiness in narrow situations or tasks

picky

vsfinickety about

67 4.7

Being hard to please about food or small details

is about fussiness directed at performing tasks rather than choices

fussy

vsfinickety about

24 3.9

Easily annoyed and hard to please about small things

is focused on being overly particular for specific things and tasks

choosy

vsfinickety about

15 3.9

Hard to please when choosing things like clothes or food

is broader, applying to tasks and preferences beyond simple choices

prissy

vsfinickety about

Informal

13 7.9

Too fussy about being neat and proper

is focused on being particular about tasks or items rather than appearance

finicky

vsfinickety about

12 7.1

Hard to please and careful about small details

is more narrowly about being overly particular with certain tasks

fastidious

vsfinickety about

8 8.0

Very careful about small details and being clean, often hard to please

is mainly about being overly particular for specific tasks rather than standards

nitpicky

vsfinickety about

Informal

4 7.9

Paying too much attention to small unimportant details and criticizing them

is more about being particular without the same critical judgement

persnickety

vsfinickety about

Informal

4 9.8

Being very picky about small details

is similar but applies broadly, not only in informal speech

picky about

vsfinickety about

Informal

3 6.8

Careful about choosing things like clothes or food and hard to please

is about being overly particular with tasks or specific things

perfectionistic

vsfinickety about

1 7.2

Tends to want everything done without any mistakes

is about fussing over small things rather than seeking complete flawlessness

pernickety

vsfinickety about

9.4

Being very careful about small details in a way that annoys others

is about being fussy specifically in relation to tasks or items

finical

vsfinickety about

9.9

Careful about small details and hard to please

is more about picky attitude in specific situations than general precision

overly fussy

vsfinickety about

6.1

Too worried about small details and hard to please

is about fussiness aimed at particular tasks or items

niggly

vsfinickety about

9.2

Paying too much attention to small, unimportant details

is about task focused particularity rather than sharp criticism

piccy

vsfinickety about

9.9

Careful and picky about small details and choices

is the more general term for fussiness across tasks and situations

piccy about

vsfinickety about

9.9

Choosy about small details and what they accept

is about being overly particular in tasks as well as preferences

picayunish

vsfinickety about

Archaic

9.9

Giving too much attention to small, unimportant details

is about general task specific fussiness rather than petty attention

Antonyms

carefree

41 2.9

Not feeling worried or responsible

easygoing

22 2.6

Being calm and relaxed and not easily upset

unfastidious

9.9

Not careful about small details and neatness

How Fussy

finickety about

9.1

picky about

Informal

3 6.8

fussy

24 3.9

Surface Forms

finickety about positive

finicketyer about comparative

finicketyest about superlative

Morphology

finickety + about

If a learner knows 'finickety' as 'excessively particular or fussy' and 'about' as 'regarding', the combined meaning 'finickety about X' (fussy regarding specific things) is directly and compositionally derived from the constituents. The adjective + about construction is a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern for marking the target of an attitude, so this should be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the parts.

Etymology

The adjective finickety about may come from the image of someone picking at food or small things with tiny, careful movements, like picking peas one by one. That's why it now means 'very particular' or 'fussy' about things.