Synonyms for fussy
- adjective
Most common
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Picky
picky, finicky informal, persnickety, fastidious, particular, choosy, pedantic, demanding, scrupulous, tight-assed informal, tight-arsed UK, finical, dainty, punctilious, meticulous, conscientious, exacting, anal vulgar informal
2. Fidgety
fidgety, grumpy, crabby, grouchy, bad-tempered, ill-tempered, cross, crabbed, irritable
Definitions
- adj. 1
Anxious or particular about petty details; hard to please.
- adj. 2
Having a tendency to fuss, cry, or be bad-tempered/ill-tempered (especially of babies).
Example sentences
- picky I hate dealing with children who are picky eaters.
- fastidious He's very fastidious when it comes to booking trips.
- choosy My father is horribly choosy about food.
- persnickety She's very persnickety about her food.
- grumpy Tom said that Mary was likely to still be grumpy.
- fidgety The baby is fidgety because it has wind.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| fussy | rising | |
| picky | rising | |
| fastidious | steady | |
| choosy | rising | |
| persnickety | rising | |
| grumpy | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- busy2, anal2
- 5 letters
- cross1, fancy2, picky2
- 6 letters
- grumpy2, dainty2, choosy2, crabby2
- 7 letters
- grouchy2, finicky3, fidgety, finical, crabbed1
- 8 letters
- bustling3, exacting3, pedantic3
- 9 letters
- demanding3, elaborate3, irritable4
- 10 letters
- particular4, meticulous4, fastidious4, scrupulous3
- 11 letters
- punctilious4, persnickety
- 13 letters
- conscientious4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (busy2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- tatillon
- Italiano
- pignolo
- Deutsch
- pingelig
- Català
- perepunyetes