adjective

• 1British informal Placing too much emphasis on trivial or minor details; fussy.

  More example sentences

  • ‘she's very pernickety about her food’
  • ‘This is especially important for veggie or fussy diners who are pernickety about kitchen hygiene or the authenticity of their dishes.’
  • ‘At last, those of us who are pernickety about our food can come out of the closet.’
  • ‘This is partly due to the demands of an increasingly pernickety international audience ‘who get easily bored.’’
  • ‘But it's a pernickety view for a dating agency to take.’
  • ‘I thought he was just being pernickety, but I'll not argue in future.’
  • ‘She is no longer pernickety about her house and her possessions.’
  • ‘But is a rescue really the time and place to become pernickety?’
  • ‘Needless to say, there were a few of my pernickety readers who were quick to point out the folly of my ways.’
  • ‘I do not wish to seem unduly pernickety but the point may have some relevance in future cases.’
  • ‘That was how pernickety she was when it came to driving.’

  Synonyms

  fussy, difficult to please, difficult, finicky, over-fastidious, fastidious, over-particular, particular, faddish, finical, dainty, punctilious, hair-splitting, exacting, demanding, critical, overcritical

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  1. 1.1Requiring a particularly precise or careful approach.
     More example sentences

     • ‘the system does not encourage additional enquiries on detailed and pernickety points’
     • ‘He assessed his questions with pernickety deliberation before replying.’
     Synonyms

     attentive, conscientious, painstaking, meticulous, diligent, assiduous, sedulous, scrupulous, punctilious, fastidious, methodical, orderly, deliberate, judicious, perfectionist

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