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Definition of 'fastidious'

Word Frequency

fastidious

(fæstɪdiəs )
1. adjective
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
fastidiously  graded 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.
fastidiously   adverb
Ernestine kept her daughters fastidiously clean.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency

fastidious in British

(fæˈstɪdɪəs )
adjective
1. 
very critical; hard to please
2. 
excessively particular about details
3. 
exceedingly delicate; easily disgusted
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Derived forms
fastidiously (fasˈtidiously)
  adverb
fastidiousness (fasˈtidiousness)
  noun
Word origin of 'fastidious'
C15: from Latin fastīdiōsus scornful, from fastīdium loathing, from fastus pride + taedium weariness
Word Frequency

fastidious in American

(fæˈstɪdiəs ; fastidˈēəs; fəˈstɪdiəs ; fəstidˈēəs)
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
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Derived forms
fastidiously (fasˈtidiously)
  adverb
fastidiousness (fasˈtidiousness)
  noun
Word origin of 'fastidious'
ME < L fastidiosus < fastidium, a loathing, disgust < fastus, disdain, contempt, pride (< ? IE base *bhars-, projection, point, bristle) + taedium: see tedium

Example sentences containing 'fastidious'

These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content. Read more…
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)

Trends of 'fastidious'

Used Occasionally. fastidious is one of the 30000 most commonly used words in the Collins dictionary

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Translations for '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
  • Spanish: exigente

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Nearby words of 'fastidious'

  • fastener
  • fastening
  • fasti
  • fastidious
  • fastie
  • fastigiate
  • fastigium

  • All ENGLISH words that begin with 'F'

Source

Definition of fastidious from the Collins English Dictionary

The past continuous tense

Typical forms of this tense are as shown in: I was winning. but not I was liking it. She was winning.   They were winning.   Was I winning? Was she winning? Were you winning? I was...
Read more about 'The past continuous tense'
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Scrabble score for 'fastidious': 14
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