If you say that someone is fastidious, you mean that they pay great attention to detail because they like everything to be very neat, accurate, and in good order.
...her fastidious attention to historical detail.
He was fastidious about his appearance. [+ about]
Synonyms: particular, meticulous, fussy, overdelicate More Synonyms of fastidious
fastidiouslygraded adverb
He fastidiously copied every word of his notes on to clean paper.
2. adjective
If you say that someone is fastidious, you mean that they are concerned about keeping clean to an extent that many people consider to be excessive.
Be particularly fastidious about washing your hands before touching food.
fastidiouslyadverb
Ernestine kept her daughters fastidiously clean.
fastidious in British English
(fæˈstɪdɪəs)
adjective
1.
very critical; hard to please
2.
excessively particular about details
3.
exceedingly delicate; easily disgusted
Derived forms
fastidiously (fasˈtidiously)
adverb
fastidiousness (fasˈtidiousness)
noun
Word origin
C15: from Latin fastīdiōsus scornful, from fastīdium loathing, from fastus pride + taedium weariness
fastidious in American English
(fæˈstɪdiəs; fəˈstɪdiəs)
adjective
1.
not easy to please; very critical or discriminating
2.
refined in a too dainty or oversensitive way, so as to be easily disgusted
SIMILAR WORDS: ˈdainty
Derived forms
fastidiously (fasˈtidiously)
adverb
fastidiousness (fasˈtidiousness)
noun
Word origin
ME < L fastidiosus < fastidium, a loathing, disgust < fastus, disdain, contempt, pride (< ? IE base *bhars-, projection, point, bristle) + taedium: see tedium
Examples of 'fastidious' in a sentence
fastidious
His countrymen these days are much less fastidious.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He also taught me fastidious attention to detail.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
But why such fastidious attention to gardening in the first place?
Christianity Today (2000)
With his fastidious attention to detail, there is little doubt that he will have done the maths.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
There is a touch of the set designer about him and he was less fastidious in his classical detail than Soane.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Some countries are less fastidious.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Some writers complained that her stories, with their fastidious eye for detail and bourgeois white relationships, were too detached from the growing horrors of apartheid.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In other languages
fastidious
British English: fastidious ADJECTIVE
If you say that someone is fastidious, you mean that they pay great attention to detail.
...her fastidious attention to historical detail.
American English: fastidious
Brazilian Portuguese: meticuloso
Chinese: 极其注重细节的
European Spanish: exigente
French: minutieux
German: penibel
Italian: pignolo
Japanese: 細部までこだわった
Korean: 세심한
European Portuguese: meticuloso
Latin American Spanish: exigente
Chinese translation of 'fastidious'
fastidious
(fæsˈtɪdɪəs)
adj
(= fussy) 挑剔的 (tiāotī de)
(adjective)
Definition
paying great attention to neatness, detail, and order
He was fastidious about his appearance.
Synonyms
particular
Ted was very particular about the colours he used.
meticulous
He was so meticulous about everything.
fussy
She's not fussy about her food.
overdelicate
difficult
I had a feeling you were going to be difficult about this.
nice
As a politician, he drew a nice distinction between his own opinions and the wishes of the majority.
critical
discriminating
These products are snapped up by more discriminating customers.
dainty
They cater for a range of tastes, from the dainty to the extravagant.
squeamish
A meeting with this man is not for the socially squeamish.
choosy (informal)
You can't afford to be too choosy about jobs these days.
picky (informal)
Everyone knows children are picky eaters.
hard to please
finicky
Even the most finicky eater will find something to eat.
punctilious (formal)
He was punctilious about being ready exactly on time.