as in careful
hard to please
an Oxford don who's definitely a pernickety old chap
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Recent Examples of pernickety
Perhaps this pernickety attention to detail is just the next logical step after years of falsification?
—
Raven Smith, Vogue, 9 Dec. 2020
Raven Smith, Vogue, 9 Dec. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pernickety
Adjective
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Hillman and the department urged residents in the area to be extra careful this time of year.—
Brooke Baitinger,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 May 2025
-
The review process is careful for a reason – and perhaps the only real method of speeding it up is the one Zeldin has proposed: reassigning staff so there are more people to share the work.—
Jeffrey Gore,
The Conversation,
14 May 2025
Adjective
-
But the spring portal can also be particularly finicky.—
Ryan Kartje,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Apr. 2025
-
Keep in mind: Shipping fresh flowers can be finicky, especially to hundreds of stores across the country.—
Andrea Beck,
Better Homes & Gardens,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Jonathan Pryce plays the persnickety headmaster who prefers to keep politics outside the school walls.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
12 Sep. 2024
-
Kurkdjian’s policies as head of the department reflect both a persnickety attention to detail and an obsession with creative autonomy.—
Rachel Syme,
The New Yorker,
16 Sep. 2024
Adjective
-
In the agency world, in particular, internships are often strategic initiatives, building pathways for job seekers to become skilled professionals and pipelines for companies to enjoy direct access to top talent.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2025
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One young man described the particular agony of being placed carelessly in a wheelchair and forced to sit for hours atop his testicles.—
Sarah Zhang,
The Atlantic,
16 May 2025
Adjective
-
But all of that felt a little fussy for something that should just have one job.—
Noah Kaufman,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
8 May 2025
-
Children with the virus may be fussy, sleepy throughout the day and cry without tears.—
Adrianna Rodriguez,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Sometimes gratitude came easily, such as when Deb helped their kids, who were picky eaters, become more adventurous.—
Rhaina Cohen,
The Atlantic,
11 May 2025
-
Although Noel is a little undersized for the position, the Bills haven’t been picky about those measurables in the Z receiver position in the past.—
Joe Buscaglia,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Zink, who has lived in and around that city for many years, catalogs the ghosts that haunt it with a voice that is cool and fastidious and possessed of a screwball comic sensibility rooted in pain.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
27 Mar. 2025
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The exhaustingly prolific Kidman stars as a fastidious suburban teacher/wife/mom who suspects her optometrist hubby (Macfadyen) is hiding something from her and enlists the help of a cute high school shop teacher (Bernal) to expose those secrets in the very strange town of Holland, Michigan.—
Randy Myers,
The Mercury News,
21 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Improving the air traffic system will also require the coordination of tens of thousands of safety workers in one of the country’s most demanding professions.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
8 May 2025
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After all those frustrating hamstring injuries, perhaps operating in a slightly less demanding role can play a part in avoiding another setback.—
Simon Johnson,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pernickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pernickety. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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