Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Easily upset; given to bouts of ill temper.
  • adjective Paying great or excessive attention to personal tastes and appearance; fastidious.
  • adjective Calling for or requiring great attention to sometimes trivial details.
  • adjective Full of superfluous details.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Moving and acting with fuss; bustling; making much ado about trifles; making more ado than is necessary.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Making a fuss; disposed to make an unnecessary ado about trifles; overnice; fidgety.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Anxious or particular about petty details.
  • adjective Having a tendency to fuss, cry, or be ill-tempered (especially of babies).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective exacting especially about details
  • adjective overcrowded or cluttered with detail
  • adjective annoyed and irritable

Etymologies

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Examples

  • She starts by sketching, which she refers to as her fussy phase of the creative process, then begins applying masking fluid to the white spaces, gradually progressing to other lighter tones before adding more layers of color.

    New Times News 2009

  • The art on the walls, set in fussy gilt frames, kept changing — from Manet to Monet and back, I think.

    Future Schlock P. J. O 2008

  • The art on the walls, set in fussy gilt frames, kept changing — from Manet to Monet and back, I think.

    Future Schlock P. J. O 2008

  • I believe that people who are described as fussy eaters simply are not given enough choice in what they eat.

    The Genius of Flexibility Bob Cooley 2005

  • I believe that people who are described as fussy eaters simply are not given enough choice in what they eat.

    The Genius of Flexibility Bob Cooley 2005

  • You’re doing better than I am with that certain fussy cry.

    Shit and Spit… | Her Bad Mother 2006

  • I like the idea of fussy cutting but it was hard to do without a test go.

    March Quilting Block girliejones 2010

  • But using Arnold Schwarzenegger and Oprah Winfrey in place of Paris and Britney would hardly have made the point that the McCain folks are clearly trying to make: that the elegant Obama, described as fussy by one McCain aide, by virtue of his celebrity, is just like female celebrities, who are, of course, slutty, stupid or mentally disturbed.

    Adele Stan: McCain Ad a "Dumb Blonde" Joke 2008

  • This bread is better than most bakery bread available here, and nobody could call it fussy.

    Minimalist's Sullivan Street Bread (with updates) Lindy 2006

  • Some of the boarders called her fussy; some said she was cold; some said she was "stuck-up" and none of them had found that beneath the surface there was a sweet, gentle, lonely heart.

    Fireside Stories for Girls in Their Teens

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