fastidious

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /fæˈstɪdiəs/ UK /fæˈstɪdiəs/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
very attentive to detail and hard to please

He was fastidious about keeping his tools clean and ordered.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very attentive to detail... meticulous fussy particular punctilious finicky exacting scrupulous choosy

Opposites

careless slovenly negligent easygoing slapdash

Word family

Forms fastidiousness

Derived forms fastidiouslyfastidiousness

Related forms fastidium

Simplified etymology

Fastidious entered English in the late Middle Ages from Latin fastidiosus, derived from fastidium, “loathing.” It first meant “disagreeable” or “distasteful,” then “disgusted”; its modern senses of being exacting or especially concerned with cleanliness date from the 17th century.

Etymology

From Latin 'fastīdiōsus' ('disdainful, squeamish'), from 'fastīdium' ('loathing, disgust'), itself perhaps a contraction of 'fastū-taedium' ('disdain-weariness'), from 'fastus' ('arrogance') + 'taedium' ('weariness').

fastīdiōsus Latin fastīdium Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# fastidious

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /fæˈstɪdiəs/
**IPA (UK):** /fæˈstɪdiəs/

## Meanings
1. very attentive to detail and hard to please

## Examples
- He was fastidious about keeping his tools clean and ordered.

## Synonyms
- meticulous
- fussy
- particular
- punctilious
- finicky
- exacting
- scrupulous
- choosy

## Antonyms
- careless
- slovenly
- negligent
- easygoing
- slapdash

## Derived Forms
- fastidiously
- fastidiousness

## Related Forms
- fastidium

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fastīdiōsus
- Root: fastīdium

## Etymology
From Latin 'fastīdiōsus' ('disdainful, squeamish'), from 'fastīdium' ('loathing, disgust'), itself perhaps a contraction of 'fastū-taedium' ('disdain-weariness'), from 'fastus' ('arrogance') + 'taedium' ('weariness').

## AI Etymology
Fastidious comes from Latin 'fastīdiōsus' ('disdainful, squeamish'), from 'fastīdium' ('loathing, disgust'), itself perhaps a contraction of 'fastū-taedium' ('disdain-weariness'), from 'fastus' ('arrogance') + 'taedium' ('weariness'). The historical trail runs through Latin fastīdiōsus and Latin fastīdium. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. In modern use it means very attentive to detail and hard to please. Derived formations include fastidiously, fastidiousness; related forms include fastidium.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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