English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology
FreeDict.com

pointilleux — meaning in English

French → English · translate English → French instead

English meaning

  • fastidious adj Extremely careful about small details, especially cleanliness and order; hard to please.
  • finicky adj Overly fussy or hard to please, especially about small details.
  • fussy adjective Overly concerned with small details; hard to satisfy.
  • nitpicking noun The painstaking process of removing nits (lice eggs) from someone's hair.
  • pernickety adj Fussy; paying undue attention to minor details; fastidious.
  • picky adj Hard to please; fussy about details and demanding that things be exactly right.
  • punctilious adj Strictly attentive to detail; meticulous or fastidious, particularly to codes or conventions.
  • stickler noun A person who insists on strict adherence to rules, details, or standards.

Senses

pointilleux is used for these senses in English:

  • fastidious Excessively particular, demanding, or fussy about details, especially about tidiness and cleanliness.
  • finicky (informal, of a person) Fastidious and fussy; difficult to please; exacting, especially about details.
  • nitpicking (figuratively, by extension) A process of finding or pointing out tiny details or errors, particularly if the pointed-out details seem insignificant or irrelevant to all but the finder.
  • punctilious Strictly attentive to detail; meticulous or fastidious, particularly to codes or conventions.

fastidious — full definition

  1. adj Extremely careful about small details, especially cleanliness and order; hard to please.
  2. adj (biology) Needing very specific conditions or nutrients to grow, and therefore difficult to culture.

Related French words