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piccy about

piccy about

9.9
Choosy about small details and what they accept
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : exigente con
  • My sister is always so piccy about what she wears, it's hard to shop with her.

Examples

  • They can be quite piccy about where they go on vacation, wanting only the best.

  • He's quite piccy about his food!

  • He’s piccy about the companies he applies to, only choosing those with a strong reputation.

  • She is really piccy about the clothes she buys.

  • He's very piccy about the restaurants he visits, insisting on high-quality dishes.

  • My friend is so piccy about the gifts he receives that he returns anything he doesn't like.

  • She can be quite piccy about the colors she uses in her art, preferring only certain shades.

Synonyms

particular
vspiccy about
106 4.4

Careful about small details and hard to please

matches that carefulness but is more informal and conversational
picky
vspiccy about
67 4.7

Being hard to please about food or small details

is similarly selective but used more playfully or locally
fussy
vspiccy about
24 3.9

Easily annoyed and hard to please about small things

matches that fussiness but is often lighter and more playful
choosy
vspiccy about
15 3.9

Hard to please when choosing things like clothes or food

is the same careful choice behavior but with more informal tone
finicky
vspiccy about
12 7.1

Hard to please and careful about small details

shares the need for detail but feels more informal here
nitpicky
vspiccy about
  • Informal
4 7.9

Paying too much attention to small unimportant details and criticizing them

expresses fussiness too but without the same critical tone
persnickety
vspiccy about
  • Informal
4 9.8

Being very picky about small details

matches that informal fussiness but may be more local
picky about
vspiccy about
  • Informal
3 6.8

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

expresses the same fussiness but as a shorter informal label
piccy
vspiccy about
  • UK
9.9

Careful and picky about small details and choices

is the same but often used with a following preposition to show focus
choosey
vspiccy about
  • Informal
6.8

A person who is very picky about what they accept

is similar but slightly more casual and regional in use
finical
vspiccy about
9.9

Careful about small details and hard to please

is the same carefulness but tends to be less formal in tone
finickety about
vspiccy about
9.1

Being very picky about small details when choosing or arranging things

is similar but expressed here as a general informal label
pernickety
vspiccy about
  • UK
9.4

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

is comparable but usually used in more casual speech
niggly
vspiccy about
  • UK
9.2

Paying too much attention to small, unimportant details

is similar but normally sounds less negative and more playful
picayunish
vspiccy about
  • Archaic
9.9

Giving too much attention to small, unimportant details

is similarly picky but less likely to sound insulting
overly fussy
vspiccy about
6.1

Too worried about small details and hard to please

shares excessive care but often feels more descriptive than critical
hair-splittingly precise
vspiccy about
  • Informal
8.1

Too careful about small details when it is not needed

is about being particular but with less extreme precision

Antonyms

46 4.4

Not interested or showing no strong feeling about something

1 4.2

Easy to please and not needing much care

How Fussy

fastidious
8 8.0
piccy about
  • UK
9.9
fussy
24 3.9
particular
106 4.4

Surface Forms

piccy about positive

Morphology

piccy + about

The adjective 'piccy' (particular/fussy) combined with the preposition 'about' (concerning/with respect to) yields the straightforward construction 'fussy about [something]'. This follows a common and productive English pattern (adjective + about) that a B1 learner who knows both words can easily interpret.

Etymology

The adjective piccy about probably comes from the idea of someone who carefully picks small things one by one, like choosing only the best apples. So, if you are piccy about something, you are 'very particular' or 'fussy' about what you accept.