persnickety

adjective

pər-ˈsni-kə-tē How to pronounce persnickety (audio)
Definition of persnicketynext
1
as in finicky
hard to please as she got older, she got more and more persnickety

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of persnickety The holdup has come from some persnickety deal points, like carving out international streaming rights and reaching consensus on the tech advancements Apple plans to use for its productions. — Alex Harrington, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Sep. 2025 Imagine creating a new standard of hypersensitive caution about attracting even the most persnickety media criticism, and then applying it for the first time to your son’s wedding. — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026 Meanwhile, a persnickety bank investigator, played by Tilda Swinton in a frizzle of red hair and clompy shoes, approaches Doyle with a serious charge. — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 29 Oct. 2025 Francesca’s pinnacle Once a Regency world has implied there’s mass print culture capable of speedy and pervasive distribution of colored images, something as persnickety as vocabulary is probably beside the point. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 11 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for persnickety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persnickety
  1. finicky
  2. challenging
  3. aristocratic
  4. careful
  5. difficult
  6. arrogant
  7. picky
  8. demanding
Adjective
  • The idea of apps like Partiful are to eliminate the need for finicky email threads and groupchats with a bunch of unknown numbers by instead putting all the info – guest list, event details and photos – in one place.
    — Rachel Hale, USA Today, 29 June 2026
  • Part of the problem is that, outside of their tenants’ pleas, landlords face neither any real pressure nor any legal requirement to install shutters and ceiling fans; even owners who want to do so are thwarted by recalcitrant co-op boards or finicky historic-preservation reviews.
    — Henry Grabar, The Atlantic, 27 June 2026
Definition of finicky
Adjective
  • This enduring legacy, underscores the lawyer's role as an officer of the court, preserving the rule of law even when challenging authority.
    — Joseph Andrew, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
  • Educate your family on our country’s history, both good and challenging.
    — Harriette Cole, Mercury News, 4 July 2026
Definition of challenging
Adjective
  • The Sound and The Fury Told by four narrators in a stream of consciousness writing style, this 1929 story describes the downfall of a wealthy Southern aristocratic family, the Compsons.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 25 June 2026
  • Because of previous demand, over 20,000 people had been employed in buckle manufacture in the Birmingham area, but when this aristocratic fashion suddenly collapsed in 1786 on the eve of the French Revolution, their trade collapsed along with it.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 June 2026
Definition of aristocratic
Adjective
  • Determination and careful calculations — hold on, carry the 2 — are a must.
    — Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 2 July 2026
  • Graduate students face lower federal limits and the loss of Grad PLUS, requiring careful financial planning.
    — Scott White, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of careful
Adjective
  • Sarah Buck, Chicago Driving has become harder The rapid increase in bike lanes has made driving much more difficult and tedious, with numerous delays due to many streets being reduced to one lane in busy areas.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
  • Republican strategists have welcomed those nominations as an opening for attack in a difficult election year.
    — Susan Page, USA Today, 5 July 2026
Definition of difficult
Adjective
  • West Germany, arrogant attitude adjusted, pounded Chile, 4-1.
    — David j. Neal, Miami Herald, 24 June 2026
  • Lasso, in his initial introduction to audiences, wasn’t the warm, pun-loving, inspirational coach audiences would eventually embrace through Apple +, but a slightly arrogant buffoon parodying the average American sports fan.
    — Charles Moss, New York Times, 24 June 2026
Definition of arrogant
Adjective
  • Again, these shops—think Plato’s Closet or Uptown Cheapskate—are picky and often cater to a younger audience.
    — Jennifer Prince, Southern Living, 1 July 2026
  • McLaughlin admits that years of parenting picky eaters helped inspire the central idea behind the project.
    — Chris Barilla, PEOPLE, 24 June 2026
Definition of picky
Adjective
  • Building a paper airplane can be as demanding as building the airframe of a real aircraft.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 3 July 2026
  • Once the evaluation process is complete, the company plans to scale production to thousands of units over the next three years, targeting manufacturers seeking to automate physically demanding and hazardous work.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 3 July 2026
Definition of demanding

Browse Nearby Words

persnicketiness
persnickety
person
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Persnickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persnickety. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All