Meaning & use
fastidious
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Paying great attention to detail and wanting everything to be exactly right, sometimes to a degree others find tiresome.
Grammar: Often followed by about or in: fastidious about details.
Patterns
- fastidious about something
- fastidious in something
She is fastidious about keeping her notes in order.
The chef was fastidious in choosing ingredients.
adjectivecomparable
Very easily disgusted by anything dirty or unpleasant, and keen on cleanliness.
Grammar: Often used about hygiene or taste.
Patterns
- fastidious about something
He is fastidious about washing his hands.
My fastidious aunt refuses to eat in messy kitchens.
Word forms
| comparative | more fastidious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most fastidious |
Common combinations
- fastidious about
- He is fastidious about his appearance.
- fastidious attention to detail
- The restorer worked with fastidious attention to detail.
- fastidious eater
- A fastidious eater, she avoids anything greasy.
- fastidiously clean
- The lab was fastidiously clean.
Synonyms and how they differ
- meticulous
- Meticulous is usually praise for careful work, while fastidious can hint at fussiness.
- fussy
- Fussy is informal and more negative.
- particular
- Particular is milder and means having firm preferences.
Opposites
Word family
- fastidiously adverb
- in a very careful, exacting way
- fastidiousness noun
- the quality of being fastidious
Commonly confused: fastidious or fatidic?
fastidious vs fatidic
A rare word relating to prophecy; it is unrelated to being careful.
Practice
My brother is so ___ about his desk that he lines up every pen by size.
Choose one answer.
Fastidious fits someone obsessed with order. The other options describe attitudes that would not lead to such behavior.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fastidious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.