picky

adjective

ˈpi-kē 

pickier; pickiest

: very careful or too careful about choosing or accepting things : fussy, choosy

a picky eater

Because pen collectors are a picky lot, and some antiques dealers who are not in the pen business can overlook the details of condition, there is occasional friction.

—Bill Holland

With rising ticket prices and new competition from cable TV, cost-conscious families may be pickier about the movies they choose to see.

—David Ansen and Martin Kasindorf

pickiness noun

Taylor mocks Zavala for the size of his extended Mexican family, their endless chatter and the frequency of their quinceaneras. Zavala ribs Taylor for his white-person pickiness about artisanal coffee and marriage.

—Belinda Luscombe

Now jobless and forced to live with five housemates in San Jose, Calif., she comes away from every job interview discouraged by employers' pickiness.

—Daniel McGinn

Synonyms of picky

• choosy
• finicky
• careful
• nice
• fussy
• particular
• persnickety
• demanding
• fastidious
• pernickety
• exacting
• selective
• dainty
• finical
• delicate

Examples of picky in a Sentence

a picky cat who would only eat one particular kind of food, and only if it was served in his special dish

she's picky, but she always finds the best quality in fresh meat and fish

Recent Examples on the Web

Both of the quiche flavors are pretty palatable, even for picky eaters. —Katherine Polcari, Southern Living, 7 Nov. 2025

Total Wine & More’s 2025 advent calendar of wine features varietals from all over the world that are sure to please even the pickiest oenophile. —Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 6 Nov. 2025

Unlike many other perennials that are picky about pruning times, daylilies can be pruned either in spring or fall, although spring pruning has major advantages over fall pruning. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Nov. 2025

To keep everyone content, dining choices should have something on the menu for serious foodies and the pickiest of kids. —Beth Luberecki, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for picky

• dickie
• dicky
• hickey
• micky
• nicky
• quickie
• rickey
• sticky
• tricky
• colicky

Kids Definition

picky

adjective

ˈpik-ē 

pickier; pickiest

: fussy sense 2b, finicky