Word of the day · 4 July 2026
fastidious
/fæˈstɪdiəs/
adjective
Very attentive to detail and accuracy; hard to please about cleanliness or correctness.
In a sentence
- A fastidious cook weighed every spice before the sauce went on.
- His fastidious notes made the audit finish a day early.
- She was fastidious about wiping tools before storing them.
In an image
Origin
From Latin fastidiosus (full of disgust, scornful), from fastidium (loathing, distaste).
History
The Latin root points to distaste, and early English kept a sense of scornful pickiness. Modern use softens that into careful standards about food, dress, grammar or method. A fastidious editor catches errors others miss. Push it too far and the word can tip into fussiness, which is part of its edge.
Nearby words
meticulous · particular · exacting
Exacting taste or standards, sometimes to a fault.