adj

fastidious

fas-TIH-dee-uhs

Fastidious (adj) means Extremely careful about small details, especially cleanliness and order; hard to please. Example: “She was fastidious about keeping her desk perfectly organised.”

adj

Extremely careful about small details, especially cleanliness and order; hard to please.

"She was fastidious about keeping her desk perfectly organised."

"He's so fastidious that he re-irons shirts that already look fine."

(biology) Needing very specific conditions or nutrients to grow, and therefore difficult to culture.

"The bacteria proved fastidious, requiring a special enriched growth medium in the lab."

How to use fastidious

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishExtremely fussy and precise about details, order, or cleanliness.

Common mistake

Not the same as "fast" — the words share no real connection despite looking similar.

Common pairings

fastidious about detail fastidiously clean fastidious eater

Word forms

more fastidious comparative, most fastidious superlative

Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.

Test yourself on “fastidious” A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage →

Fill the gap

Can you complete this real example?

She was _____ about keeping her desk perfectly organised.

Etymology

From Latin fastidiosus ("disdainful, squeamish"), from fastidium ("disgust, distaste").

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

View more →

anal-retentive choosy conscientious exacting dainty finical finicking finickity finicky finikin fussy hypercritical

Antonyms

careless noncritical nonfastidious sloppy unconscientious unfastidious uncritical unfussy

Related words

bad responsible careful tight exact delicious strict precise

Rhymes for fastidious

yous nous pious joyous heinous ominous curious anxious copious tenuous tedious spurious

See all rhymes for fastidious →

Frequently asked questions

What does “fastidious” mean?

The word “fastidious” means extremely careful about small details, especially cleanliness and order; hard to please. In plain terms, extremely fussy and precise about details, order, or cleanliness.

How do you pronounce “fastidious”?

“Fastidious” is pronounced fas-TIH-dee-uhs (/fæsˈtɪdi.əs/ in IPA).

How do you use “fastidious” in a sentence?

Here is “fastidious” used in a sentence: “She was fastidious about keeping her desk perfectly organised.”

What is another word for “fastidious”?

Words with a similar meaning to “fastidious” include anal-retentive, choosy, conscientious, exacting, dainty and finical.

What is the opposite of “fastidious”?

The opposite of “fastidious” — its antonyms — are careless, noncritical, nonfastidious, sloppy and unconscientious.

What part of speech is “fastidious”?

“Fastidious” is an adjective.

Where does the word “fastidious” come from?

The word “fastidious” comes from Latin. From Latin fastidiosus ("disdainful, squeamish"), from fastidium ("disgust, distaste").

How many meanings does “fastidious” have?

“Fastidious” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: extremely careful about small details, especially cleanliness and order; hard to please.

Featured in

Vocabulary lists that include fastidious:

GRE vocabulary words

People also searched

bad responsible careful tight exact delicious strict precise