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, 19 June 2026

How to Care for Milkweed Fortunately, milkweed isn't very high-maintenance and is relatively easy to care for. —Samantha Johnson, Martha Stewart, 15 June 2026

In the Sunshine State, there is no good reason to keep polluting, high-maintenance coal generators in service. —Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 June 2026

Ultimately, high-ROI landscaping is not about cluttering a yard with fragile, high-maintenance flora, but rather about creating clean lines, structural permanence, and an undeniable sense of luxury. —Kansas City Star, 8 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for high-maintenance

• maintenance