🟤 A tiny spot 🔍 To check closely 🔹 Very tiny

to flyspeck

9.7

To check something very carefully to find small mistakes, often too closely

verb
/ˈflaɪˌspɛk/

Informal

: examinar minuciosamente

He tends to flyspeck every report he reviews.

Examples

Don't flyspeck my work!
She flyspecked every paragraph, catching several punctuation mistakes the team had missed.
Auditors will flyspeck the report for any small errors before approving the final draft.
Instead of improving, he tended to flyspeck colleagues' proposals during meetings, slowing decisions.
When proofreading the report, she began to flyspeck every sentence for minor errors.
It's easy to flyspeck someone's work if you're looking for every little mistake.
He has a tendency to flyspeck her presentations, pointing out details that do not really matter.

Synonyms

to nitpick

vsto flyspeck

21 5.7

To complain about very small unimportant mistakes

examines closely to find tiny faults often in unnecessary detail

Antonyms

to ignore

∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to overlook

243 2.9

To not notice someone or something you should see

How Thorough

to flyspeck

Informal

9.7

to scrutinize

70 6.2

to inspect

202 2.5

to examine

868 2.5

to check

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

flyspeck infinitive

flyspecked past

flyspecked past participle

flyspecking present participle

flyspecks third person singular

Morphology

flyspeck = flyspeck (semi-transparent) = fly + speck

The verb is converted from the noun 'flyspeck', and the sense of scrutinizing for tiny faults is a metaphorical extension of the literal image of tiny specks.

Etymology

Flyspeck as a verb comes from the picture of looking for a fly's tiny speck, so to flyspeck something is to search for very small faults or mistakes. That's why it often means checking things too closely for little errors.