fastidious
Fussy about details
Fastidious describes someone excessively attentive to detail, accuracy, or cleanliness—often to the point of being hard to please.
A fastidious eater is picky about food.
A fastidious editor catches every misplaced comma.
The word can suggest admirable precision or tiresome fussiness, depending on context: She was fastidious about her appearance.
Focused on small elements
- preciseExactly correct, no error
- thoroughComplete in every detail
- carefulExercising caution and attention
- diligentPersistently attentive to tasks
methodical · exacting · painstaking · rigorous · conscientious · assiduous · punctilious · attentive
Choosing with care
- discriminatingShowing careful judgment
- choosyOverly particular about preferences
- particularSpecific or fussy
- refinedPurified or cultured
cultivated · sophisticated · judicious · astute · perceptive · shrewd · keen · picky
Clean and disease-preventing
- immaculateCompletely without blemish
- spotlessCompletely free of marks
- pristinePure and untouched
- sanitaryFree of harmful microbes
sterile · squeaky-clean · neat · tidy · orderly · germophobic · antiseptic · disinfected
Seeking out imperfections
- hypercriticalExcessively prone to censure
- overcriticalExcessively prone to faultfinding
- censoriousSeverely critical in judgment
- captiousGiven to petty criticism
carping · caviling · nitpicking · pedantic · quibbling · disapproving · judgmental · harsh
detail-oriented
Focused on small elements
- preciseExactly correct, no error
- thoroughComplete in every detail
- carefulExercising caution and attention
diligent · methodical · exacting · painstaking · rigorous · conscientious · assiduous · punctilious · attentive · systematic
selective
Choosing with care
- discriminatingShowing careful judgment
- choosyOverly particular about preferences
- particularSpecific or fussy
refined · cultivated · sophisticated · judicious · astute · perceptive · shrewd · keen · picky · exacting
hygienic
Clean and disease-preventing
- immaculateCompletely without blemish
- spotlessCompletely free of marks
- pristinePure and untouched
sanitary · sterile · squeaky-clean · neat · tidy · orderly · germophobic · antiseptic · disinfected · scrubbed
faultfinding
Seeking out imperfections
- hypercriticalExcessively prone to censure
- overcriticalExcessively prone to faultfinding
- censoriousSeverely critical in judgment
captious · carping · caviling · nitpicking · pedantic · quibbling · disapproving · judgmental · harsh · unforgiving
- SAT vocabularyaesthetic, ambiguous, benevolent, candid, concise
- High Standardsexcellence, perfectionism, quality, precision, rigor
- fancy wordsgrandiloquent, magniloquent, sesquipedalian, pulchritudinous, tintinnabulation
- fussinessfussiness, pickiness, picky, nitpicky, persnickety
- Fussy traitsfussy, nitpicking, finicky, persnickety, pernickety
- precisionprecise, exact, accurate, pinpoint, spot-on
fastidiousundiscriminating
Not making distinctions
indiscriminating · undemanding · uncritical · unfussy · permissive
fastidiouseasy-going
Tolerant and unhurried
laid-back · easygoing · carefree · relaxed · devil-may-care