Dainty and delicate refer to the lighter and finer elements of taste and beauty, dainty tending in personal use to an excessive scrupulousness which is more fully expressed by fastidious.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

meticulous Sami Bakir has been a meticulous investigator.
dainty Her sweet, kind face features a dainty pig's snout.
fussy Kalman's son started to get a bit fussy and tired.
punctilious My grandmother was punctilious about table manners.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
fastidious		steady
meticulous		steady
dainty		rising
fussy		rising
punctilious		steady
overscrupulous		falling

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

5 letters: picky², fussy²
6 letters: strict¹, dainty², choosy², prissy²
7 letters: finicky³, finical
8 letters: critical³, delicate³, exacting³, tasteful², pedantic³
9 letters: difficult³, squeamish², finickity
10 letters: particular⁴, meticulous⁴, scrupulous³, censorious
11 letters: punctilious⁴, persnickety
13 letters: conscientious⁴, hypercritical⁵
14 letters: overscrupulous

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (picky² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: méticuleux
Italiano: meticoloso
Español: meticuloso
Deutsch: akribisch
Català: meticulós