Synonyms of persnickety

persnickety

adjective

pər-ˈsni-kə-tē 

1

as in finicky

hard to please

as she got older, she got more and more persnickety

Synonyms & Similar Words

• finicky
• careful
• picky
• nice
• fussy
• particular
• fastidious
• pernickety
• demanding
• choosey
• exacting
• choosy
• finical
• dainty
• meticulous
• delicate
• selective
• finicking
• fussbudgety
• old-maidish
• critical
• discerning
• captious
• discriminating
• knowledgeable
• hypercritical
• scrupulous
• punctilious
• insightful
• overcritical
• peevish
• prissy
• petulant
• painstaking
• faultfinding
• squeamish
• touchy
• queasy
• prickly
• prim
• overdemanding
• hyperfastidious
• carping
• ultrafastidious
• caviling
• cavilling
• queazy
• niminy-piminy

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• undemanding
• affable
• lackadaisical
• carefree
• low-pressure
• flexible
• lax
• breezy
• loose
• relaxed
• lenient
• unfussy
• permissive
• unfastidious
• uncritical
• laid-back
• happy-go-lucky
• devil-may-care
• undiscriminating
• indiscriminating

2

as in challenging

requiring much time, effort, or careful attention

lacked the patience to deal with such persnickety tasks as hanging wallpaper

Synonyms & Similar Words

• challenging
• difficult
• demanding
• onerous
• laborious
• exacting
• tough
• burdensome
• arduous
• hard
• formidable
• taxing
• grueling
• toilsome
• gruelling
• strenuous
• testing
• killing
• oppressive
• stringent
• strict
• rigorous
• stiff
• herculean
• severe
• rough
• stern
• rugged
• rigid
• trying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• undemanding
• light
• easy
• simple
• unchallenging
• smooth
• effortless
• nondemanding
• facile

3

as in aristocratic

being or characteristic of a person who has an offensive air of superiority and tends to ignore or disdain anyone regarded as inferior

his persnickety attitude lost him some friends when they found out what he really thinks of "their kind"

Synonyms & Similar Words

• aristocratic
• arrogant
• snooty
• snobbish
• snobby
• snotty
• ritzy
• elitist
• uppity
• high-hat
• toffee-nosed
• potty
• bumptious
• supercilious
• smug
• high-and-mighty
• hifalutin
• aloof
• haughty
• pretentious
• egotistical
• huffy
• pompous
• hoity-toity
• imperious
• superior
• egoistical
• high-handed
• presumptuous
• self-important
• highfalutin
• egotistic
• huffish
• bigheaded
• peremptory
• egoistic
• toplofty
• overweening
• toploftical
• stuck-up
• prideful
• lordly
• self-satisfied
• self-conceited
• biggety
• biggity
• swelled-headed
• swellheaded

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• democratic
• egalitarian
• humble
• modest
• unpretentious
• egoless
• antielitist

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of persnickety

But Wilson is in his comfort zone as ever with Anderson, playing Francis’s persnickety dedication to the trip’s itinerary with his typical generosity. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 12 June 2025

What would the notoriously persnickety Corbitt say about those bold additions? —Libby Monteith Minor, Southern Living, 17 May 2025

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

But even with Ed Begley onboard as a doctor with tenuous ties to his Hippocratic oath, Elizabeth Perkins steals the show playing Funkhouser’s persnickety new flame, Marilyn. —Larry Fitzmaurice, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2024

Others are patently unsuitable, notably a persnickety couple who prompt one of John’s rare outbursts of frustration with the process. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2024

Working in visual effects had given him a persnickety lens on the world. —Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2024

All are notoriously persnickety when evaluating food prepared by the contestants, and the bar for excellence rises as the season progresses. —Mary Colurso | [e-mail], al, 13 Sep. 2023

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