pernickety
English · Thesaurus
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pernickety
- /pəˈnɪk.ɪ.ti/ UK
- /pəˈnɪk.ə.ti/ UK
- /pəˈnɪk.ə.ti/ Australia
- [pəˈnɪk.ə.ɾi] Australia
Rhymes with -ɪkɪti, -ɪkəti
Where it comes from
From Scots pernickety, persnickety, apparently from per- + nick (“a notch, mark, cutting retort”) + -et (“-ed”) + -y; equivalent to English per- + nick + -ety; literally, “marked up”, then “overly precise”. The alternative form persnickety, with s, may be due to substitution of Scots sneck (“a cut, notch”) for nick.
Compare also Scots variants pernicked, pernicket, pirnicky, and pernicky.
adjective more pernickety · most pernickety · persnickety
-
Fussy; paying undue attention to minor details; fastidious.
‘You must forgive me,’ he said. ‘I take a ridiculous pleasure in what I eat and drink. It comes partly from being a bachelor, but mostly from a habit of taking a lot of trouble over details. It’s very pernickety and old-maidish really, but then when I’m working I generally have to eat my meals alone
Similar: niggly, persnickety, anal-retentive, choosy, conscientious, dainty, exacting, fastidious, finical, finicking, finickity, finicky
- Requiring attention to minor details.
Translations
Every language
adj paying undue attention to minor details
| Español | punctilloso, puntilloso, quisquilloso |
|---|---|
| Français | pointilleux, tatillon, pinailleur |
| Deutsch | kleinlich, pingelig, etepetete, penibel, übergenau |
| Русский | приди́рчивый pridírčivyj, разбо́рчивый razbórčivyj, привере́дливый priverédlivyj, въе́дливый vʺjédlivyj, суетли́вый sujetlívyj, дото́шный dotóšnyj |
adj requiring attention to minor details
| Español | puntilloso |
|---|---|
| Français | pointilleux, tatillon, pinailleur |
| Deutsch | kritisch, genau, heikel |
| Русский | щекотли́вый ščekotlívyj, то́нкий tónkij |
Talk about this word "pernickety." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pernickety. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pernickety. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pernickety "pernickety." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pernickety.Cite this
@misc{pernickety_2026,
title = {pernickety},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pernickety},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
