Fastidious
/fæˈstɪdiəs/
adjectiveC1
Definition
Fastidious describes a person who is very careful about how things are done, especially about small details. This person often wants everything to be neat, clean, and exactly right. Sometimes, being fastidious can mean someone is hard to please because they expect a high level of quality.
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See It in Action
Very careful and exact about details
- •She is fastidious about her work and checks everything twice.
- •The fastidious editor corrected every small mistake in the book.
- •He is fastidious when arranging his tools on the desk.
Hard to please because of high standards
- •The fastidious customer returned the meal because it was not cooked perfectly.
- •Being fastidious can make it difficult to find a restaurant you like.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of 'fastidious' like 'careful,' but much stronger—someone who notices every tiny detail and wants it perfect.
- ✓Picture a person cleaning a room, making sure even the smallest corner is spotless and everything is in the right place.
- ✓It's the feeling when you want your homework or drawing to be perfect, and you check it many times to fix little mistakes.
- ✓Sounds like 'fast-tid-ee-us' → imagine someone moving fast to tidy (clean and organize) everything very carefully.
- ✓Think of a character like Sherlock Holmes who pays attention to every small clue and detail.
- ✓NOT like 'careless' (not paying attention), 'fastidious' means very exact and careful about details.
- ✓NOT like 'messy' or 'sloppy,' which mean not neat or clean.
- ✓NOT like 'perfectionist' exactly, but similar—fastidious focuses more on details and cleanliness.
Try Other Words
- •Meticulous: very detailed and exact (Use when emphasizing thoroughness and precision)
- •Particular: liking things done in a certain way (Use when focusing on personal preferences)
- •Picky: hard to please (Use in informal contexts when someone is difficult about small things)
- •Neat: clean and tidy (Use when focusing on cleanliness and order)
Unboxing
- •Prefix/root/suffix: from Latin 'fastidium' meaning disgust or dislike + suffix '-ous' meaning full of
- •Etymology: From Latin fastidiosus, meaning 'disdainful' or 'disgusted,' later changed to mean very careful or hard to please
- •Historical development: Originally meant feeling dislike, now means very careful and paying attention to detail
- •Modern usage: Used to describe people who want things done very precisely or who have high standards for cleanliness or quality
Reflect & Connect
•Can being fastidious ever be a problem in daily life? When might it help or hurt?
•How does being fastidious change the way you do tasks like cleaning or studying?
Fill in the blanks
1.She is fastidious about ___ her desk, making sure every paper is in order.
2.A fastidious person often ___ small mistakes that others might miss.
3.Unlike someone who is careless, a fastidious person ___ great attention to detail.
4.He became fastidious after ___ a bad experience with messy work.
5.When ordering food, a fastidious customer will ___ the meal carefully before eating.
6.Fastidious people often find it ___ to be satisfied with simple or quick work.
7.The editor was fastidious ___ correcting even the tiniest errors in the manuscript.