Meaning & use
picky eater
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A person who refuses many kinds of food or is very hard to please at meals.
Grammar: Countable: use a/an or a plural, e.g. 'She's a picky eater.'
Patterns
- a picky eater
- be a picky eater
- picky eater about something
My little brother is such a picky eater that he won't touch any vegetable.
At the party, the picky eaters left most of the food on their plates.
Being a picky eater can make it hard to eat at other people's homes.
nouncountableinformal
An animal that refuses most foods offered to it.
Grammar: Can describe pets or farm animals as well as people.
Patterns
- a picky eater
- be a picky eater
Our cat is a picky eater and only eats one brand of food.
The zookeepers say the panda is a picky eater and rejects new plants.
Word forms
| plural | picky eaters |
|---|
Common combinations
- be a picky eater
- I was a picky eater as a child and hated onions.
- such a picky eater
- He's such a picky eater that he brings his own snacks.
- a picky eater at meals
- She's a picky eater at meals but loves snacks.
- picky eater problems
- Choosing a restaurant with a picky eater can be a challenge.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fussy eater
- Very similar, but 'fussy' is more common in British English and can sound slightly more critical.
- choosy eater
- Focuses on being selective rather than easily disgusted; less common than 'picky eater'.
Commonly confused: picky eater or picky?
picky eater vs picky
'Picky' is the adjective; 'picky eater' is the whole noun phrase. You can say 'a picky child' but not 'a picky eater child'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'picky eater' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is a countable noun, so it needs 'a' before it: 'a very picky eater'. Option 0 misses the article, option 2 uses a plural with 'is', and option 3 uses the wrong word 'eat'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “picky eater”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.