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

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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

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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"

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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 champion’s mindset—persnickety, hyper-critical, focused—is back. — Frederick Dreier, Outside, 23 Dec. 2025 Because of that pressurization level, passengers will experience less stress on their bodies and get more oxygen while onboard, which can help to reduce that persnickety jet lag. — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 9 Dec. 2025 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 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 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
  • Moisture trapped in the ground allows finicky crops such as onions and peanuts to grow.
    — Adrien Marotte, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Their odds of winning the World Series – a famously finicky task prone to small sample size flukes – were over 25%, one-in-four for one of baseball’s 30 teams.
    — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of finicky
Adjective
  • For the healthcare providers in attendance, the party — which featured games and activities for the kids — is a chance to see the real-life impact of their often emotionally challenging work.
    — Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Because of the challenging terrain, the bridges are designed to be constructed without heavy machinery.
    — Fatma Tanis, NPR, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of challenging
Adjective
  • Here’s one book written by this aristocratic Thai woman almost 80 years ago.
    — Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • In it, a twelve-year-old boy, Cosimo, rebels against his aristocratic family, and the Enlightenment’s false divide between nature and culture, by climbing a holm oak and spending his life in the canopy.
    — Eric Klinenberg, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of aristocratic
Adjective
  • Apply the serum directly to sparse areas of your brows, being careful to avoid letting the product touch other areas of your skin.
    — Iman Balagam, Vogue, 27 Aug. 2026
  • According to the researchers, careful process design and optimization as well as architecture simplification could help in solving most of these issues, something that industrial production focuses on much more than academic researchers.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of careful
Adjective
  • The losses linked to the demise of these groups are difficult to quantify, but participants and advocates say the impacts will reverberate across federal agencies for years.
    — Katia Riddle, NPR, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Ground surveys can provide more detailed information at a particular site, but covering an entire subway corridor that way would be difficult.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of difficult
Adjective
  • Each of these decisions laid the groundwork for the war on Iran today, one that started without a clear strategy on the arrogant expectation of a quick victory.
    — Alexander Langlois, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Aug. 2026
  • The data center industry is only one face of an arrogant oligarchy that people believe now runs Congress, the courts, the White House, state legislatures and local governments.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of arrogant
Adjective
  • Violet helleborines are incredibly picky orchids, requiring a mature beech forest growing on a clay soil overlaid on chalk.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Here are details on tiny frozen pancakes that promise to quash hunger and please even the pickiest of eaters and those that are likely to end up as back-seat crumbles.
    — Jolene Thym, Mercury News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of picky
Adjective
  • Leaders may not need to tax themselves heavily to gain some cognitive benefit during an already demanding period.
    — Julian Hayes II, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • That makes both the X-ray measurement itself and the interpretation of its data increasingly demanding.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of demanding

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persnickety
person
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Cite this Entry

“Persnickety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persnickety. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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