as in picky
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Recent Examples of nitpicky
People might be critical or nitpicky.
—
Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 21 Sep. 2025
That might be minor and nitpicky, but that is the kind of thing that will take his work to the next level.
—Andrew Marchand, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 21 Sep. 2025
That might be minor and nitpicky, but that is the kind of thing that will take his work to the next level.
—Andrew Marchand, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nitpicky
Adjective
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My picky kids specifically ask for this.—
Nellah Bailey McGough,
Southern Living,
2 Jan. 2026
-
Vionic Kimmie Court Sneakers This Vionic Galia sneaker sale is so good that my picky 60-year-old mom and I are both running to checkout.—
Kyra Surgent,
InStyle,
29 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Farr recorded the album on vintage TASCAM multi-track recorders and did his overdubs on reel-to-reel tape, a finicky process that stretches the tape and imbues the music with the ghosts of previous takes.—
Jayson Greene,
Pitchfork,
14 Jan. 2026
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Today, any time spent behind the wheel of a 1960s-era race car—sans power steering and with a finicky manual gearbox—comes with a newfound respect for drivers of the period who piloted them around global circuits in competition.—
Viju Mathew,
Robb Report,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Their prestige suffers because it is conflated in the public’s mind with long lines at the DMV, fastidious building inspectors, parking tickets—the stuff of local functionaries.—
Franklin Foer,
The Atlantic,
11 Jan. 2026
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As the night stretched on, a festive atmosphere took hold; one table whooped as an erstwhile fastidious bartender joined them for a shot and returned to the counter, high-fiving his colleagues.—
Jillian Steinhauer,
New Yorker,
14 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The pool has a shallow area to splash around in, and chefs are happy to work around fussy palates.—
Chris Schalkx,
Condé Nast Traveler,
31 Dec. 2025
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For an even less fussy, truly local experience, there’s Dave’s Last Resort, one of South Florida’s favorite dive bars, where the seafood’s always fresh and the game’s always on.—
Skye Sherman,
Southern Living,
22 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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The finical, fanatical, reciprocal chiselling of mind and matter.—
Christian Wiman,
The New Yorker,
6 Dec. 2021
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However, finical institution Citi is the official presale credit card of the headliner engagements, and Citi cardmembers will have access to purchase presale tickets a week earlier, from Tuesday, May 18 at 10AM PST to Sunday, May 23 at 10 PM PST through the Citi Entertainment program.—
Larry Olmsted,
Forbes,
13 May 2021
Adjective
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The exterior sides of the oven, in particular, may need to be deep cleaned to remove spills and splatters that drip down the sides of the unit when cooking.—
Jolie Kerr,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Jan. 2026
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Testing out serums, in particular, takes a lot of trial and error.—
Michelle Baricevic,
InStyle,
14 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Touching on his reputation as an exacting, demanding, sometimes even difficult director to work with, Cameron offered rare comments about a joke made at an awards show that still stings over a decade later.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Dec. 2025
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The exacting, obsessive thoroughness with which Cameron has imagined this world is not an end in itself, however.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
16 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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To Newton, the saga was a reminder of how, in the age of increasingly sophisticated and accessible generative AI, anyone online can easily and quickly fool even the most discerning content consumers.—
Lauren Wilson,
NBC news,
7 Jan. 2026
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Large language models can review medical records en masse, noticing problems in single individuals or groups of people that even the most discerning physicians might not.—
Marah Eakin,
Wired News,
4 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nitpicky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nitpicky. Accessed 22 Jan. 2026.
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