Fastidious
/fæˈstɪd.i.əs/noun
Very attentive to detail; hard to please or difficult to satisfy.
Did you know?Fastidious comes from Latin *fastidium*, a word for disgust or loathing, and some scholars connect it to *fastus* (“pride, arrogance”), giving the word an ancient flavor of repulsion mixed with superiority.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
fastidium
“disgust, loathing, aversion”
Late Latin
Latin
fastidiosus
“causing disgust; disdainful, overnice”
14th Century
Middle English
fastidious
“disdainful, scornful; later, overparticular”
Modern English
English
fastidious
“very attentive to detail; difficult to please”