as in careful
hard to please
cats have a reputation for being finicky eaters
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Recent Examples of finicky
Wet food can sometimes be used as a way to encourage finicky dogs to eat or just to spoil your pooch.
—
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
Given the finicky nature of oblique injuries, Betts isn’t expected to play every day through at least his first week back.
—Katie Woo, New York Times, 11 May 2026
Characters can be finicky creatures.
—Jd Barker, Rolling Stone, 8 May 2026
Aside from a finicky toilet, the capsule appeared to perform well during the nearly 10-day voyage, according to NASA.
—Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for finicky
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
Given the finicky nature of oblique injuries, Betts isn’t expected to play every day through at least his first week back.
—Katie Woo, New York Times, 11 May 2026
Characters can be finicky creatures.
—Jd Barker, Rolling Stone, 8 May 2026
Aside from a finicky toilet, the capsule appeared to perform well during the nearly 10-day voyage, according to NASA.
—Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for finicky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for finicky
Adjective
-
Be careful and don’t overreact.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
31 May 2026
-
Be careful when handling debris that may have blown into your yard.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
30 May 2026
Adjective
-
There’s Chateau de Fère and Les Crayères, which is very imposing and old-fashioned; a couple of very nice funky little boutique hotels (including one owned by the Selosse family who make amazing, and amazingly priced, grower Champagne) and lots of good chambres d'hôtes.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
4 June 2026
-
Spring peas and wild rice make a nice combo filling for sweet bell peppers!—
Mary Ann Esposito,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2026
Adjective
-
Imagine creating a new standard of hypersensitive caution about attracting even the most persnickety media criticism, and then applying it for the first time to your son’s wedding.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
21 May 2026
-
Francesca’s pinnacle Once a Regency world has implied there’s mass print culture capable of speedy and pervasive distribution of colored images, something as persnickety as vocabulary is probably beside the point.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The have-nots are doing everything that used to guarantee great jobs — refreshing resumes, optimizing LinkedIn profiles and doing interviews — but companies are much more picky these days.—
Lily Wright,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2026
-
Journalists are both fewer and pickier.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Teenagers, in particular, wonder if they’ve been given a road block to future success.—
Eric Sondheimer,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
-
In particular, chip demand for AI has exploded, supporting both the training of AI models and their deployment across applications.—
Rakesh Kumar,
Fortune,
30 May 2026
Adjective
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Children with the virus may be fussy and sleepy throughout the day, and cry without tears.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
29 May 2026
-
Perhaps there's a fussy Phillies fan in footy pajamas who balks at the twice-daily ritual but might be more inclined to brush because Harper does it, as well.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
Tugging on the heartstrings can be a cheap trick in the hands of the wrong songwriter, but the genre’s best songs are redeemed by a fastidious eye and a poetic ear.—
Jack Hamilton,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 2026
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Some birds, most notably crows, like to give their food a good dunking before eating, so there’s a possibility worms in the birdbath were left by these fastidious birds.—
Joan Morris,
Mercury News,
27 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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In a July interview, Bell said sake is brewed like beer, not distilled like spirits, noting the process is more demanding and delicate -- and to make the best sake, top-notch ingredients are required.—
John Magsam,
Arkansas Online,
2 June 2026
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Granted, at nearly three hours in length, the film is also incredibly demanding — especially its initial half, which, by its nature, becomes a recursive cycle of directionless youth that Rimbaud struggles to break.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
2 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Finicky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/finicky. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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