high-maintenance

adjective

high-main·​te·​nance ˈhī-ˈmānt-nən(t)s 

-ˈmān-tə-nən(t)s

1

: requiring a large amount of care or maintenance

The high-maintenance "Dracula" orchid constantly needs high levels of humidity and cooler temperatures.

—Victoria Colliver

They can't even afford the high-maintenance hairdos, let alone the Adidas sweats.

—Gerri Hirshey

2

of a person : tending to cause problems or demand attention : extremely sensitive, demanding, or temperamental

Playing the victim gets you absolutely nowhere, and it only makes you seem tiring and high-maintenance to your boss.

—Cosmopolitan

Matthäus is the greatest German sweeper since Beckenbauer, but he's high-maintenance. At various times in his career, he has accused a ref of taking bribes, scrapped with a teammate and, three years ago, ripped his universally beloved German teammate Jürgen Klinsmann in a tell-all book.

—Jeff Bradley

Examples of high-maintenance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While the material may be a high-maintenance choice (fingerprints galore), the timeless material is having a resurgence thanks to the chrome trend. —Rachel Fletcher, Architectural Digest, 22 Sep. 2025

Like virtually all advanced U.S. military technology, the Abrams tank is notoriously high-maintenance, dependent on a complex supply chain, and exorbitantly expensive. —Seth Harp, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025

For example, celebrity hair colorist Jenna Perry of New York City’s Jenna Perry Studio recommends touch-ups and glazes every six to eight weeks for notoriously high-maintenance amber glaze red hair, as well as exclusively using sulphate-free shampoos and conditioners formulated for colored hair. —Danielle Sinay, Glamour, 16 Sep. 2025

Initiative is what separates the high performers from the high-maintenance. —Joe Altieri, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for high-maintenance

• maintenance