fastidious

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“
But we were not disposed to be over-fastidious, and we quickly had his ribs roasting over a brisk fire: that yet was not so brisk as was our hunger, for we began to eat before the meat was much more than warmed through.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (4)

  1. adjective Possessing or displaying careful, meticulous attention to detail.
  2. adjective Difficult to please; exacting.
  3. adjective Excessively scrupulous or sensitive, especially in matters of taste or propriety. See Synonyms at meticulous.
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Examples (50)

  • Mumbai: Delhi-based photographer Sanjay Sharma's clientele mostly consists of people who are camera-shy, fastidious, and yet strangely unyielding. —  Daily News & Analysis
  • But we were not disposed to be over-fastidious, and we quickly had his ribs roasting over a brisk fire: that yet was not so brisk as was our hunger, for we began to eat before the meat was much more than warmed through. —  The Aztec Treasure-House
  • He was extremely fastidious, and anything that offended his taste by vulgarity or crudeness repelled him with such force that the work of practical philanthropy would have been impossible to his temperament. —  The Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume I
  • Russians and Chinese are one as bad as the other when there are vexing formalities; papers to verify, passports to sign, etc., etc. It is the same sort of meddling, minute and over-fastidious, and we must put up with it. —  The Adventures of a Special Correspondent
  • But I was too hungry to be fastidious, myself Because the mess had guests there was a special dish in our honor. —  A Minstrel in France
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, squeamish, particular, haughty, from Old French fastidieux, from Latin fastīdiōsus, from fastīdium, squeamishness, haughtiness, probably from fastus, disdain.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French fastidieux (vernacularly fâcheux, later English fashious, ult. the same word), = Spanish Portuguese Italian fastidioso, from Latin fastidiosus, passive that feels disgust, disdainful, scornful, fastidious, active that causes disgust, disgusting, loathsome, from fastidium, a loathing, aversion, disgust, niceness of taste, daintiness, etc., perhaps for *fastutīdium, from fastus, disdain, haughtiness, arrogance, disgust (for *farstus(?), akin to Greek θάρσος, θράσος, boldness, audacity, and to English dare), + tædium, disgust: see dare and tedium. See also fash, fashious.
 

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/fæsˈtɪdɪəs/
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