Definition of FINICKY

Did You Know?

You may be familiar with an advertising campaign featuring Morris, the "finicky" housecat who would only eat a certain brand of cat food. Morris’s tastes in cuisine are not only very particular, but very fine as well, and that’s appropriate given the origin of "finicky." The word came about as an alteration of "finicking," itself an alteration of another adjective, "finical." It’s believed that finical derives from the adjective "fine." "Finicking" also gives us "finick," a somewhat rare verb meaning "to put on airs" or "to dawdle about."

Examples of finicky in a Sentence

My teacher is finicky about grammar. a complicated and finicky recipe

Recent Examples on the Web

Who knows, maybe there will be some newfangled primer that actually works for our finicky skin type or an innovative mascara that truly checks off every box on our criteria. — Allure, "The Best New Makeup Launches Coming This Month," 1 June 2019 In addition to the finicky remote touch pad on the center console, the standard 8.0-inch display screen is now a touchscreen, which should help make things a bit more intuitive. — Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, "2020 Lexus RX Sharpens Its Look and Purports to Fix Its Infotainment Issues," 30 May 2019 White asparagus is less common and a little more finicky. — Audrey Bruno, SELF, "3 Simple Ways to Cook With Asparagus," 5 Apr. 2019 Plants can be finicky, requiring the right amount of sunlight and water to grow. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "Trees Don't Absorb Enough Carbon to Stave Off Climate Change, Says Study," 24 Jan. 2019 Thankfully, my children manage to grow on an upward curve despite their finicky tastes. — Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, "Picky Eaters? For Parents, Food-Shaming Is All Too Real," 28 Jan. 2019 Eggplants are finicky, complicated, and often misunderstood. — Leah Rodriguez, The Cut, "Queer Eye’s Antoni Recommends Breaking Up Over a Bowl of Cheese," 6 July 2018 Who knows, maybe there will be some newfangled primer that actually works for our finicky skin type or an innovative mascara that truly checks off every box on our criteria. — Allure, "The Best New Makeup Launches Coming in November," 1 Nov. 2018 The aging dragster—the same car Rompelberg used in 1995—proved finicky. — Jason Gay, WSJ, "She Just Rode 184 MPH on a Bicycle. Really.," 17 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'finicky.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.